Friday update: Zach Kleiman shows his genius once again

BREAKING: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

The Memphis Grizzlies were busy on draft night. They made 4 picks, two first-rounders and two second-rounders, and addressed needs that will be created this summer by players leaving in free agency.

  • Memphis traded up to the number 19 pick, sending numbers 22 and 29 and a future second-rounder to Minnesota. They used 19 to score Wake Forest forward Jake LaRavia. He can play small forward or power forward and will provide a skill set similar to what free agent Kyle Anderson brought to the team.
  • Memphis then acquired the 23rd pick and Danny Green (who likely will never play for the Grizzlies) in exchange for De’Anthony Melton. The 23 pick turned out to be David Roddy, a Colorado State small forward who was the Mountain West Player of the Year last season. Roddy will also help replace some of Kyle Anderson’s contributions on the wing.
  • Tennessee point-guard Kennedy Chandler, generally projected to be picked in the 20s, fell into the latter half of the 30s and Kleiman smelled opportunity. Not only would Chandler replace the skill set of free agent Tyus Jones, but Chandler is from Memphis and Ja Morant and Chandler have been good friends for years. A future second-rounder and cash considerations to San Antonio got Memphis the ability to scoop up Chandler with number 38.
  • With the 47th pick, Memphis chose shooting guard/small forward Vince Williams Jr. from VCU, adding depth on the wing.

Bleacher Reports grades for the picks:

  • 19 Jake LaRavia: B-
  • 23 David Roddy: C-
  • 38 Kennedy Chandler: B-
  • 47 Vince Williams Jr.: C

As for the Memphis Tigers in the draft:

  • Center Jalen Duren was taken with the 13th pick by Charlotte and then was traded to the Detroit Pistons.
  • Forward Josh Minott was taken 45th by Minnesota with a pick acquired from Charlotte.
  • Shooting guard Lester Quinones went undrafted but Golden State subsequently signed him to a two-way contract. He’ll play for the G-League Santa Cruz Warriors.

Poor Jabari Smith was told he was the consensus 1 pick for weeks, then fell to 3 on draft night. Not only did he miss out on the prestige of forever being known as a number-one draft pick, but it’ll cost him about $1.7 million in rookie-scale salary this coming year.

I’m sending prayers and good vibes to Memphis Sandwich Clique co-founder Ryan Hopgood this morning. Ryan suffered a heat stroke early last week and slipped into a coma. His situation was so dire that his family asked that he be taken off life support and his organs donated – but when they took Ryan off life support, he didn’t die. He woke up. Get well soon, dude. We Memphians are relying on you to tell us where the dank sammies are.

Lansky Bros. has Elvis (the movie) belt buckles and T-shirts on sale. The movie is in theaters as of today. Filmmakers stopped by Lansky Bros. in 2019 to learn about the effect Bernard Lansky had on Elvis’ style.

A new music festival is coming to the grounds of Grind City Brewing Co. in Uptown. Grind City Fest will happen Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27.

FedEx will soon offer a new service called Picture Proof of delivery that will show you the exact spot to where your package was delivered.

The CA has a look at Kennedy Chandler’s draft party at the Hyatt Centric.

Today is National Food Truck Day.

The Supreme Court decision saddens me greatly. I expect protests across the nation this weekend, some of which will turn into riots.

Back tomorrow with more news.