2019 NBA Mock Draft: Full lottery impact on the first round

Age: 20
Height, Weight: 6-foot-3, 180 pounds
Slash Line: .499/.363/.813
Season Averages: 24.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 10.0 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 1.7 3PM

Instead of the Phoenix Suns finishing second to pick their position of need, the Memphis Grizzlies found their way into the top two. While they will not select Zion Williamson, there is the opportunity to change the course of their franchise for the next decade.

Mike Conley is a franchise icon at point guard. He, along with Marc Gasol, led this team through its difficult times and playoff ventures for over a decade. Gasol is gone, though, and so is most of that “Grit-n-Grind” culture.

Above 30, and with Memphis headed in a new direction, it is time for Conley’s heir apparent to arrive. What better way to fill his shoes than with the 2019 NBA Draft’s top point guard prospect, Ja Morant.

This lined up perfectly for the Grizzlies. They can take the athletic and flashy Murray State product, who broke out during March’s NCAA Tournament. It was a national coming-out party, as he dominated the regular season, but fell into the background playing for a mid-major program.

Memphis is still a remote NBA location, but Morant can still thrive and learn from a veteran point guard. It’s a match made in heaven for him, though only if Conley stays on the roster, as teams calling on his availability seems inevitable.

Maybe the Grizzlies defer and pick someone else, which puts the New York Knicks in position to take their own point guard of the future. Kyrie Irving‘s potential arrival could make that meaningless, however.