Izuchukwu Okosi
National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar Dillon Brooks is reportedly moving on from Memphis Grizzlies after spending his first six seasons with the team and will be joining the Houston Rockets.
Per multiple reports on NBA free agents, Brooks has agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with the Rockets.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBrooks may wind up joining the Rockets via a sign-and-trade deal. However, his move to Houston makes him the second reported veteran to find a free-agency home in Houston, joining Fred VanVleet who agreed to a reported three-year, $130 million deal on Friday.
Brooks was drafted by the Rockets for Memphis with the 15th pick of the second round (No. 45 overall) in 2017, has now built upon the completion of his three-year, $35 million extension with the Grizzlies.
The 6-foot-7 swingman averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds 2.6 assists per game last season for the Grizzlies. He is known as a defensive-minded player and was named to the 2022-23 All-Defensive second team.
Aside from his defense, Brooks may have also been known for the antagonist role he took on against opponents like LeBron James, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in playoff series throughout the years.
However, his role as such was not without its baggage. He was ejected from Game 3 of the Grizzlies’ first-round series this year against the Los Angeles Lakers after he struck James in the groin.
Brooks said afterward that the flagrant foul he received was an accident and that he believed his reputation in the media and among the basketball public lead to his ejection.
“The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me,” Brooks told reporters in late April.
Brooks led the NBA with 18 technical fouls this season, earning a pair of one-game suspensions in the process. He described his own playing philosophy during the series as: “I poke bears,” and he made headlines across the league by dismissively calling James “old” even though the 27-year-old Brooks was the oldest active player on his own roster.
