This will UNLOCK the Grizzlies...

This will unlock the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, we did a video last week about a point guard battle that's likely to take place between Scottie Pippen Jr. and Ty Jerome. But in this case, we're just going to be highlighting Scottie Pippen Jr. and why he's, quote, the hidden gem of the entire team. Go on, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here for another episode of Grizzlies. I just bring you the latest news and updates on everything Grizzlies related, keeping you informed in early August. Now, we know we're going to have some NFL football coming later on this week, but of course, we have to get in some news whenever we can, and we're going to do that consistently here. We know it's a dead period, and we're going to do that consistently here on Grizzlies Digest, and we know that we are a channel that's staying up to date for you because you're here for us, and we want to be here for you, so we appreciate you sticking around. So, Scottie Pippen Jr., why is he being called the hidden gem? And I just want to kind of go through how he started. So, he started out in the G League, getting G League reps, had stint with the Lakers, and then made his way to the Grizzlies, and he very quickly got onto the center stage. And so, this is what it says here. Now, this Grizzlies hidden gem at point go. Don't talk enough about what the son of an all-time great can provide. Of course, they're talking about Scottie Pippen Sr. He was six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls. It's hard to believe that it was around maybe 22, 23 years ago the last time he actually played basketball. And then, about 20 or so years later, his son is in the NBA, and he is being called a hidden gem. Why is that? Actually, moving here to the other screen. This is following his play in the G League in the previous years we just talked about. Pippen Jr.'s performance earned him a four-year, $9.6 million contract with the Grizzlies on October 15, 2024, keeping him under contract through the 2027-28 season with a team option for the final year. Now, that may not sound like much. It may sound like peanuts, chump change. Whatever words you want to put together, you're talking about a four-year, $9.6 million deal. So, think about it. I mean, around $2.3 million a year. Does that sound right? $2.3-$2.4 million in annual value, AAV. But this is one of the more friendlier contracts in the league, and I think he's earned the right to be here until that season. And I think that he is arguably going to be the sixth man on the team. He's going to be the key guy off the bench. Now, I know someone in the comments is probably going to be like, well, Jared, you didn't forget about Jalen Wells, did you? And I'm going to be like, of course I didn't forget about him. I mean, he's a young kid who's thriving. I think he's getting better defensively. I think he's finding a confident shot. But something about Pippen Jr., he's just a very scrappy guy. He doesn't look like much of a scrapper, but he is. And I think if he's controlling the basketball, being that forward general, calling the plays, and then on the other side of all, stealing it, averaging nearly two steals a game, I feel like you have to give him credit where it's due. And he's really come from a long way away, and I really like that. This is Sam Trey continued, maybe a little bit longer, but in the following 2024-25 season, he averaged 9.9 points, 4.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and there are the steals. 1.3 steals and 21.3 minutes per game. But when given a starting rollout here, he showed what he could do with more responsibility. And in 21 starts that season, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals. Oh, excuse me, I don't know what that was. All while shooting 46% of the team. So he's proven that he can shoot at a pretty high clip and be effective with his minutes. Now we've seen a lot of Grizzlies before in the past two years, who we kind of just throw out there and we expect spaghetti to stick on the wall, and it just doesn't work. But for Tyler Gibson Jr., he has had to work his way up. He's been here since, and this is going to sound like ages ago, even though it was only February of 2025, last time we had a roster like this. But he was there for John Morant and Marcus Smart and even Derek Rose. That might seem, like I said, a blast from the past, right? But believe it or not, that was not even 24 months ago when those guys were on the team. And he had to work his way up. I think, again, Marcus Smart's been in this league a long time. John Morant was a superstar. Derek Rose has been in the league a long time. And Scottie was kind of like the fourth point guard. He really worked his way up. Now we can see that in those 21 starts that season. Sam Trey continued here on the other slide. He has spent his career fighting for opportunities despite caring to put the name. Gibson Jr. has built his career on his own production. He went undrafted, worked his way through the G League, earned a roster spot, secured an NBA contract. Now with Memphis entering a new era and opportunities available throughout the roster, Gibson has another change to prove he belongs. And I think he will. And this is a bit more of the nitty-gritty from Sleeper Memphis on X about his highest steals per game last season. You look at Kevin Porter, Jr. I'm sorry. At first I thought for the fans that are a little like me or my age or even older, I thought at first that was said Otto Porter, Jr. I was like, that guy's still in the league? That's crazy. But Matisse Diable, yeah, he's been a pretty reliable defender. Sir Thompson as well. Dyson Daniels coming in very strong in his peak right now. Kayson Wallace, always been a scrappy defender his early NBA career. And then Scottie Pippen tying Kayson Wallace there with 1.9. So very scrappy guy. I think he's got something that not many players have. It's that scrappy defensive tone to him that's never going to go away. And especially if you're that small. Again, I don't want to say he's small, but in the NBA world, he kind of is. And if you have that extra boost to your game, that extra hustle to your game, it really shows that you're playing for everything that you've got. And that's what I appreciate. And that's something that he has that this guy doesn't, though. Didn't want to compare, like I said, but, again, I still think Ty Jerome will be the favorite to come out of the point guard battle this summer. And I'm sure once we start training camp, I'm sure we'll have a lot more news and headlines and videos on that. Don't expect Ty to take that spot, but for Scottie Pippen Jr., he will be the automatic, I think, de facto sixth man of his team. He's going to take this team to new heights, I think. So that's going to do it for us. Thank you so much for watching the video. If you like it, comment, subscribe to it. Thank you so much. In this whole dead period, I mean, it doesn't go unnoticed, ladies and gentlemen, for you to like it, subscribe, and comment. You know, I've been through a lot over the past month to two months, but, hey, we're still here. We're still kicking it. So stay tuned, and we'll have more content out for you. Thanks for watching.