- Larry Kuzniewski
- What will O.J. Mayo be? Shooter? Point Guard? Do-It-All?
Last summer, after drafting O.J. Mayo, one of the primary discussion topics for the Grizzlies was what kind of player he’s going to be: A point guard? A shooting guard? A hybrid? A superstar? An all-star? A merely good player?
This is an important question in that the answer should help determine much of what the Grizzlies do with the rest of their roster, and one of the problems I had with the team’s offseason is that the franchise itself didn’t seem to be operating with a clear idea of where Mayo was headed and kind of players would help him maximize his skills.
Is Mike Conley a good fit alongside Mayo long term? If not, was there a guard in the draft — Tyreke Evans? James Harden? Stephen Curry? — who made more sense? The answer, pardon the pun, is surely not Allen Iverson.
The way the Grizzlies build their backcourt going forward should be contingent on where and how Mayo needs to play and what teammates can best help him do that. The Grizzlies — with a GM who seems intrigued by the idea of Mayo at point guard and a coach who seems unusually opposed to even testing that notion — don’t seem to have a strong handle on the question.
After a stellar rookie season, there’s more info to draw from in analyzing Mayo, so let’s take another look at which direction Mayo’s career could head, breaking down the three general types of player he could become:
