Sam Young gets a puff piece in the Memphis paper. It focuses on his drive. Pointing to the air mattress in the locker room and already with Memphis he was the last of the rookies to leave the court.

It also seems to take a stab at getting into Young’s psyche a bit.

“I’ve always been the underdog,” he said.

The thread through all this is that he has excelled for those who have taken an interest in him. For example, at Friendly High in Fort Washington, Md., Young was not a blue-chip recruit. He was playing out of position at center and lackluster grades meant he would need to spend an additional year at a prep school to qualify. As a result, most top-tier programs backed off. He was high risk and not necessarily high reward.

So when the Pitt coaching staff began to show up at his games and then stuck around, Young committed on the spot.

“We were there when a whole lot of other people weren’t around,” Lombardi said. “He just wanted someone to give him some love.”

The Grizzlies hope there are parallels, though Young said he was hoping the team would take him at No. 27 — a pick they used instead on DeMarre Carroll. Still, considering all the other teams that passed on him completely, Young appreciates that the Grizzlies appreciated him, drafting him at No. 36. And now, among those close to him, there is the feeling — or even the expectation — that he intends to make the rest of the NBA pay.

Young will now be wearing #4 for the Grizz. Quentin Richardson has the 23 jersey there.

DeJuan Blair gets to keep his #45 and is ready to grab boards.

Now that he’s headed to the NBA, Blair will need to polish the offensive parts of his game. He will have to work to learn the subtleties of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s defense. A 61.4 percent foul shooter in college, Blair will look to improve in that area as well.

In the meantime, Blair figures he can always contribute by doing what he does best.

“I’m not worried about points,” Blair said. “I’m going to rebound. If this team has a rebounder, then there’s your championship. Because they have everything else.”

Aside from health concerns about key players.