Whether or not he was chosen at No. 49 overall, Chad Ford still insists that Kansas point guard Josh Selby is a lottery level talent. And to that end, he praises the Memphis Grizzlies for jumping on him that late in the 2011 NBA Draft. Selby’s future as a combo guard could be nice on a team without any solid spark off of the bench in the backcourt, and even starter O.J. Mayo hasn’t put it all together enough to stave off any thoughts of competition.
But even that’s getting ahead of myself for what is really a late pick in the draft. Ford still believes that’s possible when he writes,
“I have no idea whether Josh Selby will pan out. But at No. 49, the Grizzlies drafted a player with lottery talent.” Ford goes on to say:
A medical red flag concerning a swollen knee and a skipped MRI was partly to blame for Selby’s drop. But teams were more worried about his character and his poor season at Kansas. Still, when you watch his game film from college or watch him work out, you see that he has the potential to be special.
That late in the draft, the Grizzlies risked nothing and had everything to gain — and maybe Selby follows in the footsteps of other young, talented second-rounders like Monta Ellis, Lou Williams and Gilbert Arenas. Selby may never get it together, but he was worth a shot here.
It’s that last bit that rings very true, as teams continued to take role players or foreign bigs they’ll be forced to wait upon, the Grizzlies went with a medical project that could pan out better than any of them. For Selby’s sake, here’s hoping he receives some good news soon enough.