As a data scientist raised in Brooklyn with a foot in both stats and sports, I’ve seen this pattern before: elite prospects like Zhai Qi, Trey Lewis, and Jalen Jones are being tested by the Grizzlies—despite models showing clear regression. This isn’t about hype. It’s about misaligned priors. The team holds the 17th and 57th picks, yet ignores quantifiable signals. Here’s why intuition still beats analysis—and what that costs.