NBA Outsider: Memphis Grizzlies Draft Follow Up

3 Shades of Blue tells how this years draft picks are not super stars but certainly upgrades.WHEN THE DRAFT GIVES YOU LEMONS..... The Memphis Grizzlies exercised all three of the picks with which they entered the 2009 NBA draft-nos. 2, 27, and 36, selecting Hasheem Thabeet, Demarre Carroll, and Sam Young. Sure, when the year 2020 comes around, the potential for this year's draft crop to be viewed as one of the best ever is pretty low-but as the title states, the draft might give you lemons...and sometimes the lemonade takes a bit longer to make and isn't quite as good as Grandma's on a 90-degree day, but it should still be pretty tasty. What Michael Heisley has stated many times is that he wants to field a more defensive-oriented team (a philosophy with which I heartily agree), and this draft bears his mark in bold ink. Thabeet, Carroll, and Young are all known as defensive standouts at their respective positions, and each showed that he deserved that recognition at a high level in college. The lower picks, particularly, just absolutely reek (in a good way) of players that Heisley and Hollins (and we hope Wallace) will just love-energy, wingspan, tenacity, and leaveitonthefloorism. All three picks represent a talent upgrade for a team desperately in need of such, and it could be said that the players they will replace (Darko Milicic, Quinton Ross, Greg Buckner, Darius Miles...wow what a list, huh??) were/are not exactly known as "winners wherever they may roam" in the NBA. The optimal outcome of this draft will be that these three fresh acquisitions will have a much greater hunger to make a lasting mark on the NBA through hard work, dedication, and, we hope, much success in a Grizzlies uniform.