MarShon

Brooks

Brooks will play alongside new teammate Michael Beasley, who signed with Guangdong as well. Brooks played 29 games for the Grizzlies this season averaging 6.6 points before he was traded to the Bulls at the deadline. Chicago waived him after the transaction was completed.

The Bulls are also waiving Michael Carter-Williams when the trade with Houston is complete. Once Brooks clears waivers, he could land on a contender for his 3-point shooting and instant offense off the bench.

This was not a surprise with the Bulls likely just trading for the draft picks and not Brooks and/or Wayne Selden. Cameron Payne is also reportedly going to be waived, so perhaps the Bulls will look to sign someone else. Regardless, leave Brooks on the wire.

Which Brooks, though? Assuming no mistake here, the Bulls will need to waive someone, so it’s not a lock that Brooks will be on the roster. He can do damage with some volume, but it may take a few injuries for him to make an impact.

Brooks was a late-season stud for Memphis last year, averaging 20.1 points, 2.7 triples, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals in seven appearances. That came with an unchecked role for a tanking team, of course, and he’s vanished this year with only five double-digit scoring performances off the bench. With the Grizzlies two games out of a playoff spot, there’s no reason to think Brooks’ role will expand.

Brooks was slated to be on his way to Phoenix until the Suns realized they wanted his teammate, and fellow Brooks, Dillon and not MarShon. There was a miscommunication somewhere along the line and now the deal is dead, according to multiple reports. Both MarShon and Dillon will stay in Memphis.

Brooks has been playing minutes in the low-teens over his last 10 games and hasn’t been much of a fantasy asset thus far, which isn’t surprising. The soon-to-be 30-year-old is mainly just a microwave scorer off the bench at this point in his career. It seems unlikely that’ll he’ll step into a role with the Suns right away, making him better left as a free agent in most leagues.

Brooks added one rebound, one assist and one block to help Memphis fend off the Clippers and improve to 14-9 this season. The Grizzlies really need another guy to bring the ball up and create offense, especially with Shelvin Mack struggling, so maybe Brooks can fill the void. He’s still not worth grabbing outside of the absolute deepest leagues.

Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he expected Selden to play, and he was available, so his DNP seems like a precautionary move. The Grizzlies don’t play until Wednesday and with two extra days to rest we’d expect Selden to return to the rotation -- if not, MarShon Brooks could find himself playing 15-20 minutes.

He was 5-of-12 from the field, but the big takeaway is that he played a season-high 30 minutes. MarShon Brooks played just 14 minutes and hit 2-of-8 shots for six points, so Selden should be the first wing off the bench going forward and could have some sneaky deep-league value while Dillon Brooks (knee) is out.