Heading into the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies — spearheaded by superstar point guard Ja Morant — seemed prime to make a deep postseason run. After all, the Grizzlies ended the 2022-23 regular season with the second-best record in the Western Conference at 51-31 and the best home record in basketball at 35-6. But fast forward to the current day, and it's evident that the Grizzlies fell short of expectations during the postseason.

The Memphis Grizzlies' playoff run was short-lived. The Grizzlies got eliminated in six games in the first round by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Memphis became just the second team in league history to be eliminated from the postseason by a play-in squad.

The Grizzlies' 2022-23 season was certainly underwhelming, but a solid NBA Draft could have helped fans forget about the season that was. Unfortunately, though, the Grizzlies did not have a great draft, or even a good one, to be frank.

The Memphis Grizzlies had two second-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft and no first-rounders after trading their pick to the Boston Celtics for Marcus Smart. Specifically, the Grizzlies owned the 45th and 56th picks, which they used to select South Carolina forward GG Jackson and Turkish prospect Tarik Biberovic. And the Grizzlies made a big mistake by selecting one of these players. With all of that said, let's look at one big mistake that the Memphis Grizzlies made in the 2023 NBA Draft:

1 big mistake by Grizzlies in 2023 NBA Draft

Drafting GG Jackson

GG Jackson, an 18-year-old 6'9″ forward from the University of South Carolina, was the youngest prospect to be selected in the 2023 NBA Draft. He flashed impressive defensive potential during his freshman season with the Gamecocks. When locked in and at his best on the defensive end, Jackson used his length and size to make life difficult for opposing players, as he averaged 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals per game across 32 appearances. But Jackson is still very raw on both ends of the floor, and thus it didn't make sense for a contending team such as the Memphis Grizzlies to select him.

Firstly, Jackson really struggled to efficiently score the ball in the 2022-23 campaign. He scored 15.4 points per game, a team-high, but his shooting splits were poor — Jackson converted just 38.4% of his field-goal attempts, 32.4% of his threes, and 67.7% of his free-throw attempts. Plus, Jackson also struggled to effectively make plays for his teammates. He dished out 0.8 assists per game, which is even more concerning when factoring in his 2.7 turnovers per game average as a freshman.

And on the defensive end, while Jackson had his moments of brilliance, his effort was far too inconsistent. Considering Jackson is undersized for a power forward at 6'9″ if he continues to play defense with inconsistent effort in the pros, he will have trouble ever cracking an NBA rotation.

All in all, Jackson's youth, physical profile, and defensive potential are alluring, and he would be a good project for a rebuilding team. But on a team that's trying to win now in the Memphis Grizzlies, his fit doesn't make sense. He seems like he's not even close to being ready to contribute to a contender at this stage. Maybe that will change after he gets the chance to hone his game for a few years in the G-League, but who knows if the Grizzlies will even be contenders in two years? It's likely they will be, but nothing is guaranteed in a league as unpredictable as the NBA.