A few days ago it seemed like the relationship between Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies was unofficially done. The forward will be a free agent this summer and it’s unclear whether he’ll be back in Memphis next year after playing such a pivotal role with the team over the last few seasons.
The Grizzlies had reportedly made clear that the team would not be bringing Brooks back “under any circumstances,” according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. That led to everyone in NBA circles speculating about what would come next for Brooks’ career.
Related: Dillon Brooks doesn’t deserve this treatment from the Memphis Grizzlies or from you.
But, as it turns out, that may not be completely true. While it seems unlikely Brooks will be back with the Grizzlies at all this season, a few nuggets of information have surfaced since, not only refuting Chararnia’s reporting but also calling him out for it.
So, with that said, let’s try and get to the bottom of everything to get a sense of what’s really going on when it comes to Brooks’ impending free agency this summer.
First, JJ Redick spoke up about it on First Take
Redick said it’s clear that someone is trying to make Brooks a “scapegoat” here.
JJ Redick had the most logical take from any national media member on the Dillon Brooks “scapegoat” narrative this morning pic.twitter.com/Y58eGQlwjO
— Bryson🐻 (@BrysonWright3) May 3, 2023
“Whoever put that language and approved that language in the tweet, yeah that person wants to make Dillon Brooks the scapegoat. The reality is, yeah, the Grizzlies have other problems besides Dillon Brooks. … Actually, you know what? I’d be willing to bet that that language didn’t come from the Grizzlies. This is the problem. It’s agenda-driven media. I have a problem with it.”
That’s where it all started.
Then Dillon Brooks' agent called Shams Charania's reporting out
Brooks’ agent, Mike George of One Legacy Sports, followed up on that with this, calling Charania out directly.
@ShamsCharania the leader of spreading false news and attacking players. Why any player in the league talks to this guy blows my mind. #weirdo https://t.co/Coj2b0aY6E
— Mike George (@MikeGTdot) May 3, 2023
It’s clear that Brooks’ side of things isn’t happy here.
Neither side seems to be too happy with this
It’s not just Brooks’ side that had a problem with this. As Redick said, the Grizzlies probably aren’t too thrilled by this getting out in this way, either.
Grizzlies beat reporter Damichael Cole followed up with the same sentiment after Brooks’ agent sounded off.
Dillon Brooks’ agent sounds off on the Shams Charania report from yesterday. Doesn’t sound like DB’s camp was thrilled with that report. I would imagine the Grizzlies weren’t either, so this is a tricky situation where it sounds like neither side was the primary source of info. https://t.co/CVcVKFZRDI
— Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) May 3, 2023
This isn’t necessarily reporting that the Grizzlies are unhappy, but Cole previously reported that the Grizzlies were considering not bringing Brooks back mostly because he was searching for a larger offensive role.
“I don’t think I lost anything on the offensive end,” Brooks told Cole. “I was just there to three-and-D, shoot and play defense. I got way more to my game than that.”
The only thing that seems to be clear here is that Brooks and the Grizzlies aren’t on the same page. Maybe that’s a reason for a split. But it’s certainly not the team saying that he can’t come back “under any circumstances.”
So here's what we actually know
There are a few things we can actually say we know about Brooks’ situation here.
- He’s going to be a free agent this summer after his deal expires at the end of the league year.
- He also thinks that he can play a bigger role offensively than the one he occupied for most of last season.
Truthfully, that’s all that has been confirmed here.
Whether the Grizzlies are truly not bringing Brooks back “under any circumstances” is unclear. Brooks’ agent is refuting it. Memphis doesn’t seem to be too thrilled with the fact that this language is what got out.
So where does this go from here?
That’s hard to know at this point. We won’t find anything out until this summer. Things are very clearly tenuous, at best, for right now after the initial report surfaced.
But we all know how free agency works. Money changes things. If Brooks wants to come back to Memphis and Memphis actually wants him back, then he’ll be there. But we’ll have to just wait and see.
