The Memphis Grizzlies do not plan to bring Dillon Brooks back to the team this summer when he becomes a free agent, a person with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.
Brooks received a contract extension offer last year but turned it down. The Grizzlies have since decided it will not be in their plans for the future, said a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the team nor Brooks has released details publicly.
The Athletic was the first outlet to report the Grizzlies’ decision. It was immediately confirmed by ESPN.
Brooks just finished a three-year contract that paid him $35 million. He led the NBA with 18 technical fouls this season. He also received a pair of one-game suspensions for exceeding the league’s limit on technical fouls.
He was also fined $35,000 for putting a cameraman on the sideline while trying to win a fumble in Miami in March. He later apologized for this fact.
He was suspended for a game in February for hitting Donovan Mitchell in the groin, which cost him a $78,621 fine, according to spotrac.com.
Brooks was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Sunday for refusing to speak to the media after Memphis’ first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA said Brooks violated league rules for “media access to interviews.”
That included a time when Brooks dodged the Memphis locker room before the media entered after the loss led to elimination in Game 6 of the series. That 40-point loss was the largest in franchise history for Memphis, which entered the second season as the second seed.
On Sunday, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman was asked about Brooks’ future with Memphis.
“I will talk to Dillon Brooks another day, but there is nothing to say about him now that he will be in free agency.”
Memphis acquired the 6-foot-6 Brooks, who was selected 45th overall out of Oregon in a 2017 trade with the Houston Rockets. Brooks started 318 of 345 career regular-season games.
