MEMPHIS — For Grayson Allen, it came as a shock back on July 6 when he was included in Utah’s blockbuster trade for Mike Conley and sent to Memphis along with Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver.
Allen had split his time during his rookie season between the Jazz and the Salt Lake City Stars and finished the season with two big games, a 23-point effort in a win over Sacramento and a 40-point explosion in the season finale, an overtime loss to the Clippers.
His future looked bright and he was looking forward to building his career in Utah.
Then came the trade.
“Oh yeah, I didn’t see it coming at all,” Allen said before Friday night’s game against his former team. “I knew going into the NBA, that’s part of it, but you never expect it.”
“It was a shock, just as I was one year in and getting settled and had to pick up and move,” he continued. “I had to quickly transition to the summer league and come here and find a new place and get ready for training camp. So it was a busy summer.”
Allen started off the season as one of the first guys off the bench for the Grizzlies and scored a season-high 13 points with five rebounds against the Lakers in the fourth game of the season. But he sprained his ankle on Nov. 2 in a game against the Suns and sat out for the next three weeks before returning earlier in the week against Indiana when he played 12 minutes and scored four points. He also played 18 minutes against the Clippers on Wednesday.
Then Friday night, he was the first man off the bench for the Grizzlies, although things didn’t go great for him as he missed all five of his shots in the first half. He came back to hit a free throw and 3-point shot in the third quarter and finished the night with four points on 1-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and an assist.
Allen says he has no hard feelings with the Jazz for trading him and still keeps in touch with Donovan Mitchell, Quin Snyder, assistant coach Johnnie Bryant and others.
Snyder had good things to say about his former player before the game.
“He’s committed to defending, he can score in a variety of ways, he can shoot the ball off the catch, he can get to the rim,” said Snyder. “He’s got a lot of tools and I’m happy for him that he’s got a good opportunity here. He’s got a bright future.”