What's Next For Dillon Brooks If the Grizzlies Get Eliminated From the Playoffs?

Dillon Brooks is currently facing something that many of us spend our entire lives trying to avoid. Brooks is facing the consequences of his actions creeping up on him and in about a week, Dillon Brooks may need to learn how to drive a forklift soon because if the Memphis Grizzlies lose in the first round of the playoffs, it may be the end of his NBA career.

When the Grizzlies took Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers to tie the series 1-1, Dillon Brooks acted as if he had figured out LeBron James.

Here he is looking like the easiest man to rob on planet Earth talking all of the shit about LeBron James:

“I don’t respect somebody until he gives me 40.” 😳

Dillon Brooks had a lot to say about LeBron after the Grizzlies Game 2 win

(via: @espn_macmahon) pic.twitter.com/Nx1Ktt28Mg

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 20, 2023

Yes, LeBron is old and you don’t respect any player unless he drops 200 points on you and all of the WWE garbage that gets your name trending on Twitter at 1am on the east coast. That’s fine.

Okay, and here’s what Dillon Brooks did a couple days later in Game 3:

7 points
3-for-13 shooting (23%)
2 rebounds
no assists
1 steal

Dillon Brooks was kicked out of Game 3 for slapping LeBron in the testicles.

The Grizzlies went on to lose Game 3 and then Game 4 in overtime. Brooks also declined to speak to the media following both games and avoiding the media after a tough loss is a surefire way to turn every talking head on sports television against you.

As someone who is an extremely sore loser, I totally understand not wanting to have microphones and cameras in your face when you take an L. I will rip a Monopoly board in half if I don’t like the way I lost the game.

Unfortunately, these players get paid millions and part of the deal is you have to sit there looking like all of your car tires went flat in the middle of a road trip as journalists pick apart all of your flaws and then end it with “What are your thoughts on all of the negative things I just said about you?”

It’s safe to say that the Grizzlies season is ending which is good for someone like Ja Morant who gets to rest the hand he injured at the beginning of the playoffs and take some time away from the spotlight to get his priorities in order.

But the Grizzlies season ending is bad for someone like Dillon Brooks who is about to enter free agency following a playoff series where he established himself as a defensive agitator who has no idea how to shoot a basketball and might secretly not be that great at defense either.

Brooks is often compared to Draymond Green as neither player provides much of anything on offense, they’re great on-ball defenders and they are constantly talking all of the shit.

To me, I see them as both attention-seekers who have main character syndrome. Both Brooks and Green clearly want to be talked about and remembered. Everyone wants to feel special. These two men are just not at all subtle about it.

However, there is a massive difference between these two weirdos. Draymond Green has 4 championships and the Grizzlies made it to the 2nd round once. Where they then lost to Draymond and the Warriors.

So when Brooks draws tons of negative attention to the team while also shooting 33% from the field in the playoffs this year and getting thrown out of games for breaking Gary Payton’s elbow or slapping LeBron’s balls, it makes it veryyyy difficult to see the other 29 teams in the NBA rushing to give this man a contract after they inevitably lose to the Lakers and Shannon Sharpe.

So what’s next for Dillon Brooks?

I don’t see Memphis wanting Brooks back.

He ruins too many offensive possessions with terrible 3’s and ruins too many defensive possessions with flagrant fouls and little ticky-tack nonsense when he’s chosen a guy he decides he’s going to mess with all game long.

If Memphis wants to avoid becoming the next Portland Trailblazers—a team built around their backcourt—then they need to replace Brooks’s minutes with a dynamic wing. None of those players will really be available in free agency unfortunately, but the Grizzlies can’t even package Brooks in a sign-and-trade because no team wants that dude around.

So the way I see it, there are two options for Brooks.

I can see the Houston Rockets convincing themselves they need some sort of veteran enforcer or whatever to pair with all of their young players. Ime Udoka is their new head coach and I can see him thinking Brooks can fit the Marcus Smart archetype. That Jalen Green-Jaylen Brown-Dillon Brooks Big 3 is going to lock down the 9th seed for a few years.

OR, he can link up with his former teammate Kyle Anderson and the two of them can play for China.

Personally, I like Dillon Brooks.

In 2023, there are too many athletes who are boring, contrived, living billboards and oftentimes, the athletes that have all the personality are the ones in the news for doing goofball shit off the court like, ya know, his teammate Ja Morant.

Brooks doesn’t seem like a truly bad guy. He just thinks he has to play a certain role on this Grizzlies team but a fresh start elsewhere could save his career. At only 27 years old, the man could still develop a solid 3-point shot and transform into someone like Jae Crowder.

Or he’ll be working for Deadseriousness this time next year giving hot takes about the hardest player to defend in the league is like, Bones Hyland, or whatever hot take will get him trending online and talked about on First Take.

Welcome to the Beijing Ducks, Dillon.

Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.