The Memphis Grizzlies used the No. 32 pick in the 2026 NBA draft on Richie Saunders, betting that his shot-making can translate even after a torn ACL cut his college career short.
Saunders, 24, came out of BYU with the kind of numbers that usually keep second-round doors open: 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, plus 48.9 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent from three-point range. He measured 6 feet 5 inches and 205 pounds, with a 6-foot-8.75-inch wingspan, and he was listed as a shooting guard. That profile is why he stayed in the draft conversation. Teams can live with a missing season if the player already looks ready to fit a role.
What made Saunders appealing was not a runaway athletic package. It was the rest of the game. He made most of his shots off the catch, hit 81.7 percent from the line, and posted 38.7 percent shooting over four years at BYU. He also flashed in transition before the injury, making 65.0 percent of his two-point attempts and 18 of 28 three-point tries there. For a team looking for a plug-and-play option, that kind of clean shot profile carries real weight.
The catch is that the same traits that make Saunders useful can also limit how quickly he matters. He can struggle to create separation against athletic defenders in isolation, and he may have a harder time handling quicker guards or stronger wings on the other end. A torn ACL only sharpens that question, because it pauses development at the exact moment NBA teams want to see whether the shot and decision-making hold up against bigger, faster athletes. That is the reason he can be drafted with confidence and still arrive with a timeline attached to recovery.
The Grizzlies have added a player they see as a floor spacer and steady decision-maker, but the real next step is simple and unavoidable: Saunders has to come back from the ACL injury first. If the shot survives that recovery, the pick will make sense quickly. If not, this will be one of those second-round swings that lives for a while on projection.
