The Memphis Grizzlies selected 19-year old point guard Tony Wroten Jr. out of Washington in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft.  Wroten is 6’5″, 205 pounds.  He played in 35 games at Washington last year and he averaged 30.3 minutes, 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Not bad for his only year in college.  But, he only shot 44.3% from the floor, 16.1% (9 of 56) from three point range and 58.3% from the free throw line last year.  He will learn by backing up Mike Conley in Memphis.

The Grizzlies have a pretty solid team right now, so I look for them to take the best player available when they pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.  They own the #25 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.  On my mock draft, found on bloglockers.com, I have the Grizzlies drafting shooting guard Dion Waiters out of Syracuse.  He would give the Grizzlies even more firepower off the bench.

This is going to be the best first round series in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.  I can see either team winning this series and here is a look at the matchups:

POINT GUARD:  26-year old Chris Paul is one of the best point guards in the NBA and he will keep all of his team involved offensively in this series.  Paul played in 60 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 36.3 minutes, 19.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game.  He has played in 23 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 40.7 minutes, 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

24-year old Mike Conley is going to have his hands full with defending Paul and running the Grizzlies’ offense in this series.  Conley played in 62 games (61 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 35.1 minutes, 12.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Conley has played in 13 games in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 39.0 minutes, 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

EDGE:  CLIPPERS

SHOOTING GUARD:  28-year old Randy Foye stepped up and replaced Chauncey Billups in the starting lineup for the Clippers.  He played in 65 games (48 starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 25.9 minutes, 11.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  The Clippers hope that Foye can handle the pressure as this will be his first playoff experience.

30-year old Tony Allen is on the court to play D.  He played in 58 games (57 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game.  Allen has played in 69 games in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 13.9 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

EDGE:  EVEN

SMALL FORWARD:  32-year old Caron Butler is a solid veteran who tends to step up in the playoffs.  He played in 63 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 29.7 minutes, 12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  Butler has played in 31 games in the playoffs in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 39.4 minutes, 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

25-year old Rudy Gay was injured last year when the Grizzlies were in the playoffs.  So this will be his first shot on the big stage.  Gay played in 65 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 37.3 minutes, 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  I think he’s going to play well in this series.

EDGE:  GRIZZLIES

POWER FORWARD:  23-year old Blake Griffin is the new “Human Highlight Film” due to his power dunking prowess.  He played in 66 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 36.2 minutes, 20.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.  I think he’s going to relish the big stage as this will be his first playoff experience in his NBA career.

30-year old Zach Randolph has been gimpy for most of this year and the Grizzlies need him to step up in this series.  Randolph played in 28 games (8 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  He has played in 21 games in the playoffs in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 34.3 minutes, 18.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

EDGE:  CLIPPERS

CENTER:  23-year old DeAndre Jordan is going to have to be a force in the paint for the Clippers in this series.  He played in 66 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 27.2 minutes, 7.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  Like Griffin, this is going to be Jordan’s first shot in the playoffs in his career.

27-year old Marc Gasol is one of the better all-around centers in the NBA right now.  He played in 65 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 36.5 minutes, 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  Gasol has played in 13 games for the Grizzlies in the playoffs and he is averaging 39.9 minutes, 15.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.

EDGE:  GRIZZLIES

BENCH:  29-year old PG/SG Mo Williams is going to be the first guy off the bench for the Clippers in this series.  He played in 52 games (1 start) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 13.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Williams has played in 30 games in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 14.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.  34-year old forward Kenyon Martin could also play a key role in this series for the Clippers.  Martin played in 42 games (0 starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 5.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.o blocked shot per game.  He has played in 89 games in the playoffs in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 35.3 minutes, 14.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  26-year old shooting guard Nick Young will be expected to bring some offense off the bench for the Clippers in this series.  He played in 22 games (3 starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 23.5 minutes, 9.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Young has played in 4 games so far in the playoffs and he is averaging only 4.3 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  31-year old power forward Reggie Evans will get on the court to throw his body around in this series.  He played in 56 games (0 starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 13.8 minutes, 1.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Evans has played in 27 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 17.1 minutes, 4.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  31-year old small forward Bobby Simmons might get some P.T. in this series.  He played in 28 games (0 starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 2.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Simmons has played in 5 games so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 31.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.  22-year old Eric Bledsoe will likely be watching a lot in his first playoff series.  He played in 40 games (1 start) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 11.6 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

The Grizzlies are hoping that their young bench will be able to give them some production in this series.  24-year old shooting guard O.J. Mayo will be counted on to bring an offensive spark off the bench.  Mayo played in 66 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 26.8 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Mayo has played in 13 games in his career in the playoffs and he is averaging 27.8 minutes, 11.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.  24-year old power forward Marreese Speights will be coming off the bench in this series for the Grizzlies.  Speights played in 60 games (54 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 22.4 minutes, 8.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Speights has played in 5 games in his career in the playoffs and he is averaging 10.0 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  25-year old forward Dante Cunningham is also going to be counted on to help off the bench in this series.  He played in 64 games (5 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Cunningham has played in 5 games in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 8.4 minutes, 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game.  24-year old SG/SF Quincy Pondexter is going to also have to help out in this series for the Grizzlies.  Pondexter played in 64 games (8 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Pondexter has played in 3 games in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 3.0 minutes, 0.7 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  26-year old Jeremy Pargo will have to give Mike Conley a break once in a while in this series.  He played in 44 games (5 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 9.6 minutes, 2.9 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  This will be Pargo’s first playoff experience.

EDGE:  CLIPPERS

COACHING:  Vinny Del Negro led the Clippers to a 40-26 (60.6%) record this year.  He is only 4-8 (33.3%) in the playoffs.

Lionel Hollins led the Grizzlies to a 41-25 (62.1%) record this year.  He is 7-6 (53.8%) in the playoffs as an NBA head coach.

EDGE:  EVEN

PREDICTION:  CLIPPERS IN SEVEN GAMES

The Grizzlies picked 20-year old, 6’2″, 183 pound shooting guard Josh Selby with the 49th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Selby didn’t play too well in his only year in college.  He played in 26 games for Kansas last year and he averaged 20.4 minutes, 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Selby only shot 37.3% from the floor last year.  The Grizzlies have a lot of players ahead of Selby at shooting guard, so they should be able to bring him along slowly.

The Memphis Grizzlies might be looking to deal into the first round of the NBA Draft this Thursday.  The Cavaliers are trying to pry Rudy Gay away from the Grizzlies but I don’t think that’s going to work.  I could see the Grizzlies trying to trade into the middle to late first round of the NBA Draft using their #49 pick along with SG O.J. Mayo.  Of the teams at the end of the first round, the Bulls make the most sense.  If the Grizzlies could sweeten the pot a little bit though, they might start to interest the Knicks who are looking for a SG right now.  If the Grizzlies stay pat, I look for them to draft the best available player regardless of position.

The Memphis Grizzlies really turned it up in the second half of the game last night as they outscored the Thunder 51-29 to pull away for a very important win last night.  Zach Randolph led the way for the Grizzlies last night with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  O.J. Mayo got the start over Sam Young at shooting guard and he responded with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals last night.  Mike Conley only shot 3 of 13 from the floor as he finished up with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals in this game.  Tony Allen pitched in with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal in 21 minutes on the floor.  The win last night set up a winner take all Game #7 with the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

The Grizzlies have picked SG/PG Greivis Vasquez with the 28th overall pick of the NBA Draft. The 23-year old Vasquez brings nice size to the court at 6’6″, 200 pounds. He played in 33 games (32 starts) at Maryland last season and he averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He played in 136 games (123 starts) in his four years in college and he averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. I really like this pick for the Grizzlies as Vasquez can play both guard spots.

The Grizzlies used the #25 overall pick on 21-year old shooting guard Dominique Jones out of South Florida and they then traded him to the Mavericks for cash considerations. Jones played in 95 games (94 starts) in three years at South Florida and he averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Grizzlies probably should have kept Jones because he’s the kind of offensive player they need coming off the bench.

The Grizzlies have selected 19-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry out of Kansas with the 12th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Henry played in 36 games (all starts) at Kansas last season and he averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Henry will likely back up O.J. Mayo as a rookie but he could easily develop into a starting player down the road.

The Memphis Grizzlies head into tomorrow well equipped to improve their team as they have the #12, #25 and #28 overall picks in the NBA Draft. The Grizzlies would be smart to use one of their picks to draft a point guard to push Mike Conley. The other two picks should probably be for the best player available regardless of position. The Grizzlies could always package a couple picks to move up or trade one of their later picks for a veteran to help the team right now.