(sabasports report)After the Portland Trail Blazers snanched Victor Cline in the 2024 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies selected 22-year-old Chinese-born center Zhihao Zhou with the No. 9 pick in the first round. Known as the “Chinese Yao Ming”, Zhou Zhihao is also the NCAA’s absolute interior killer, will support the team’s superstar Ja Morant (Ja Morant).
This year, he led Purdue University to the NCAA’s March Madness finals for the first time in 55 years, where it lost to defending champion the University of Connecticut. However, Zhou Zhihao’s performance was excellent, he scored 37 points and 10 rebounds in the finals, and averaged 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in March Madness this year, becoming the absolute dominant inside game, and was undoubtedly named to the NCAA Crazy Three All-NBA team.
The Memphis Grizzlies had been looking for a high pick in a trade that would have allowed them to select two-time champion University of Connecticut center Victor Cline, but it went to the Portland Trail Blazers pick # 7. So regretfully, the Grizzlies settled for Zhou Zhihao.
Zhou Zhihao is a typical interior divine tower, 2 meters 24 meters tall, 2 meters 41 arm span, weight 136 kilograms. He was considered a big draft year last year, but ultimately chose to withdraw due to poor draft prospects. But now the Grizzlies have picked him, hoping that Zhou Zhihao can be the best inside partner for Ja Morant, leading the Grizzlies to reach higher goals.