Jordan Hawkins Lands in Memphis, But the Guard Room Is Already Packed

Jordan Hawkins is a Grizzly. Memphis has landed the 2023 lottery pick (14th overall) out of New Orleans, ending a three-year Pelicans run that produced flashes but never traction. His 2025-26 line — 5.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists across 51 games, good for 9.1 fantasy points per game and our No. 373 overall rank — tells you why the change felt inevitable.

This is a reset for a shooter who used to matter. At UConn, Hawkins averaged 16.2 points as a sophomore and shot 21-of-41 from three during the 2023 NCAA Tournament run to the title. The NBA version has been streakier: a 7.8 PPG rookie year, a career-best 10.8 PPG in 23.6 minutes across 56 games in 2024-25, then a slide back to a bit role last season.

Why Memphis, And Why It's Complicated

There's a nice storyline here — Hawkins reunites with fellow UConn national champ Cam Spencer, who has quietly turned into a real rotation piece. Spencer put up 11.1 points and 5.6 assists in 72 games in 2025-26 (23.9 fantasy points per game, our No. 154 overall). Two Huskies in one backcourt is a fun subplot.

The problem is the depth chart. Memphis is stacked at guard: Spencer, Scotty Pippen Jr., Cedric Coward, Walter Clayton Jr., Ty Jerome and Javon Small are all fighting for the same minutes. That's a traffic jam, and Hawkins arrives at the back of the line with something to prove.

Coward is the most productive of the bunch on our board — 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 62 games last season, 26.2 fantasy points per game (our No. 131). Small is the interesting swing piece: 9.7 points, 3.7 assists in 41 games (20.6 fantasy points per game) and trending up, averaging +3.8 fantasy points over his last five versus his season mark.

The On-Court Read

For Hawkins to carve out real run, he has to become the floor-spacer Memphis can't ignore. The tools are there — this is a guy with seven UConn games of five-plus made threes, including a six-triple Elite Eight against Gonzaga. If that shooting shows up in camp, the Grizzlies won't leave it on the bench.

But betting on shooting variance in a six-deep guard room is a rough proposition for real rotation minutes. New Orleans didn't end well, and while a change of scenery can unlock a player, it doesn't manufacture available minutes out of thin air.

The Fantasy Fallout

Winners here are the guys already established. Coward stays the cleanest Memphis backcourt asset for redraft, and Spencer's role looks secure enough to draft with confidence in deeper formats. Small is the sleeper to monitor — his recent uptick suggests he's ahead of Hawkins in the pecking order right now.

Hawkins himself is a loser in the short term, at least for fantasy purposes. That +16.4 fantasy points over his last five games (2025-26) is a tantalizing hint of upside, but it's a tiny sample against a No. 373 season and a wall of guards ahead of him.

Verdict: WATCH. Don't spend a draft pick on Hawkins in standard leagues. Stash him on your watchlist, monitor the preseason shooting reports, and only pounce if injuries or a trade thin out that Memphis guard room. Until then, he's a name to remember, not a name to roster.