Ontario Player of the Week April 9 – April 15

The Ontario Player of the Week winner is Mississauga native Dillon Brooks from the Memphis Grizzlies, as the NBA season wrapped up, he became the only rookie in the NBA to play in all 82 regular season games.

Brooks, a 6’6” small forward, played at Findlay Prep in Nevada before his college enrollment. This prep school has had a large contingent of alumni make it into the NBA over the years, with players including Detroit Pistons guard Avery Bradley along with fellow Canadians Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph and Anthony Bennett. Brooks accepted his offer from the University of Oregon in 2014 to begin play in the 2014-15 season.

As a freshman with the Ducks he started 33 of 36 games, averaging 11.5 points, and made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Brooks was one of the most prolific scorers to ever play for the Ducks, and in his final season helped lead Oregon to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. In between his college career, Brooks also represented Canada at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto, helping the Senior Men’s team to a silver medal. Brooks ended the season by being named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and to the consensus All-American second team.

Brooks declared for the 2017 NBA Draft, going 45th overall in the second round to the Houston Rockets, but was eventually traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Brooks set the record for the highest point total scored in an NBA debut by a Canadian with 19 points.

At NBA All-Star weekend this year Brooks played in the Rising Stars Challenge, contributing 11 points in Team World’s 155-124 win over Team USA.

Brooks looks to be a key part to the rebuild in Memphis, as they have the second-best odds at landing the 1st overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft this summer. It will be fascinating to see how Brooks continues to develop on this young Grizzlies team moving forward.

Tune in next week as the NBA Playoffs are now underway!