LaMelo Ball was standing there, waiting for tipoff during the Memphis Grizzlies‘ game Jan. 22 against the Charlotte Hornets, and Jaylen Wells was there in front of him.
Ball dribbled up the court, and Wells was there. Memphis scored, and Wells was there, denying the inbound pass 92 feet from the basket. Wells was there, taking an elbow as Ball tried to get free off a screen.
When Ball went to the bench during the first timeout, Wells might as well have been there, too.
“He plays real hard,” a frustrated Ball said after the game, where he shot 7-for-20 in the 132-120 Grizzlies win. “Face-guarding, all that type of stuff.”
Ball wasn’t the first opposing star to run into the buzzsaw that is Wells’ defense. A rookie out of Washington State, Wells has gone from a second-round draft pick expected to be buried in the Grizzlies’ deep rotation to an essential part of the starting lineup. He’s headed to the Rising Stars game during NBA All-Star weekend Feb. 14-16 in San Francisco, and he is one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year.
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Even more surprising has been the way he has done it: defense. Specifically, the kind of in-your-face, annoying defense that you might associate with the irritating kid in AAU ball who’s trying too hard to make an impression. Except this is the NBA, and Wells is using it to usurp the power of legitimate superstars.
“He just denies all over the place,” Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said after the Grizzlies’ win on Jan. 20. “No matter what’s going on, he’s going to find you and just get into you, lay his body on you. He does a great job of it.”
How Jaylen Wells became a defensive stopper
Shooting was always Wells’ calling card. It was what his trainer, Dante Miller, first noticed when he met him as a 5-foot-6 seventh grader. It was what Marcus Kirkland noticed when Wells would show up to his open runs in the Sacramento area and go toe-to-toe with NBA players like Kent Bazemore and Ben McLemore.
It made Wells a standout player. But graduating during the COVID pandemic, when everyone got an extra year of eligibility and disrupted roster plans, it wasn’t enough to get him a Division I offer. He went to Division II Sonoma State, but he shot only 26% from 3-point range as a freshman.
He wanted to transfer, but Miller leveled with him: Where was he going to go? Who wanted the Division II player who was only an all-conference honorable mention?
Miller went to Sonoma that offseason and played one-on-one with Wells. Except only one of them got to touch the ball.
“He guarded me for an hour and a half,” Miller said.
Wells’ improved shooting (44% on 3-pointers) made him a hot commodity when he entered the transfer portal after his sophomore season. The rangy 6-7 wing could do a lot more than the undersized shooting guard Miller had known in high school, and he was soon headed to Pullman.
He kept getting better. One day at an open run, Kirkland noticed Wells seemed a little more laid-back on the court. So he checked Wells’ Instagram feed and found that Wells had already done two workouts before he came to the gym.
Defense, though, was still a question. Wells has said this season that his coaches didn’t consider him a good defender, and it wasn’t the skill (read: shooting) that Grizzlies fans were excited about when he was drafted.
One time, Miller went to a practice at Washington State and watched a Cougars assistant spend the entire session challenging Wells to play better defense.
“He was just on him. Like, ‘You cannot play defense. You need to tighten up your defense,’ ” Miller said. “And he just took it as a personal challenge.”
More:How Grizzlies draft pick Jaylen Wells went from DII to NBA in a little over a year
How Jaylen Wells has changed Grizzlies’ trajectory
There was plenty of reason to believe Wells was going to be out of the Grizzlies’ rotation at the beginning of this season. But an injury crisis among wings — Vince Williams Jr., GG Jackson, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane all missed significant time toward the start of the season — meant coach Taylor Jenkins had no choice but to throw Wells into the fire.
He quickly became a starter. And he kept starting. Even as players have come back from injury, Wells has held on to his starting spot. He’s averaging 11.7 points per game, first among rookies (76ers guard Jared McCain is out for the season because of a knee injury) and he’s shooting 38.7% from beyond the arc. He’s intentional about getting to the right spots on the floor when his team has the ball, providing the space Ja Morant needs in the middle of the court as a capable shooter in the corner or on the wings.
But he has stayed on the floor because of what happens after he shoots it. He has been an essential part of the Grizzlies’ defense, especially with Smart and Williams both missing most of the season so far.
Wells is routinely guarding the best offensive player on the other team, whether it’s a point guard like Ball or a forward like Utah’s Lauri Markkanen. The guy who was playing against Chico State two years ago is now guarding Kevin Durant or Steph Curry on a nightly basis.
“I kind of knew that he’d be good,” Kirkland said. “I didn’t see this good.”
Miller turned on a Grizzlies-Suns game earlier this season and saw Wells face-guarding Devin Booker. It made him do a double take: Who does that in the NBA? It gives Wells a unique edge, something opposing players — opposing stars — now have to prepare for whenever they’re playing the Grizzlies.
And for the most part, it works.
“They definitely feel frustrated,” Wells said last week. “It’s tough. I’d hate it, too.”
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
Jaylen Wells, the rising defensive star of the Memphis Grizzlies, has been making a name for himself in the NBA with his disruptive defensive style. Known for his tenacity and relentless pursuit of the ball, Wells has been giving some of the league’s biggest stars a run for their money.
Wells’ defensive prowess was on full display in a recent game against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he managed to shut down LeBron James and Anthony Davis with his quick feet and strong defensive instincts. His ability to anticipate his opponent’s moves and disrupt their offensive flow has earned him praise from fans and analysts alike.
With his impressive steals and blocks stats, Wells has proven to be a valuable asset for the Grizzlies on the defensive end. His ability to make life difficult for opposing players has helped the team secure crucial wins and climb up the standings in the tough Western Conference.
As Wells continues to develop his defensive skills and establish himself as a force to be reckoned with in the NBA, it’s clear that he will be a key player to watch in the upcoming seasons. His disruptive defensive style is sure to give even the biggest stars in the league a run for their money.
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