If NBA expansion really does move forward with new teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, the league would eventually get to the messy part: the expansion draft. And in a recent hypothetical from Dan Favale and Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report, the Grizzlies’ protected list produced one eyebrow-raising call.
In that scenario, Memphis would keep Cam Boozer, Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, Taylor Hendricks, Scotty Pippen Jr., Jaylen Wells, Quinten Post, and Cam Spencer. The notable absence was Karim Lopez.
That stands out because both Boozer and Lopez have not played a regular-season game for the Grizzlies yet, and it would feel strange for Memphis to leave one of its first-round picks exposed this early in the rebuild. On paper, Lopez looks like the kind of player teams usually hold onto: he’s only 19, he has the size you want at his position, and his defensive upside gives him a real path to sticking in Memphis.
The offensive end is still where the questions live. Lopez is raw there, and the biggest issue is his creation. Even so, he flashed enough this summer in a limited sample to show he can be an impactful NBA defender.
Most of the Grizzlies’ choices in the hypothetical track with what you’d expect. The one that feels the most questionable, even looking a few years ahead, is protecting Quinten Post over Lopez.
Post could still wind up being a useful piece. He brings shooting, and there’s at least a chance he can regain some of the defensive form he showed early in his second season with the Warriors. But he also has a lot to prove before anyone can comfortably pencil him into Memphis’ long-term plans.
Lopez, by contrast, already has some things working in his favor. He has impressive strength for his age, he’s smart without the ball, and he rebounds well. Add in the defensive tools, and if the offense comes around, he could turn into a key building block for years.