Coming at you live from Narragansett, Rhode Island:
The Calathes Deal: I promise Grizzlies transactions when I go on vacation and I don’t disappoint. Yesterday, the Grizzlies formalized a deal with the Dallas Mavericks (first reported by ESPN.com’s Marc Stein) to acquire the rights to point guard Nick Calathes, currently with Lokomotiv Kuban of the Russian League. To obtain the rights to Calathes, the Grizzlies removed protections on a 2016 second-round pick already owed to Dallas.
Calathes had a terrific career at the University of Florida and was a highly regarded draft prospect (particularly by then ESPN.com analyist John Hollinger, as I mentioned here a few weeks ago), but ended up falling to the Mavericks in the second round after agreeing to a contract with a Greek team prior to the draft. After four successful years overseas, Calathes seems ready to jump over to the NBA, and when the Mavericks drafted Shane Larkin and then agreed to free-agent deals with veteran Jose Calderon and Israeli rookie Gal Mekel, it was clear Calathes’ rights were obtainable.
There’s some thought that this deal was made in reaction to the poor play of Tony Wroten Jr. in Las Vegas Summer League [more on that to come], but my sense is that this was considered a good value play by the Grizzlies and would have been pursued regardless. The two pressing questions: What are Calathes’ NBA prospects and how likely is he to join the Grizzlies this season?
On the former, Calathes is roughly similar to former Grizzlies’ point guard Greivis Vasquez: He’s 6’5”/6’6” with advanced playmaking skills but is a spotty shooter with middling athleticism. The shooting — a solid three-point shooter at Florida, Calathes’ percentages from both long-range and the free-throw line declined mysteriously over time — is a concern. But Calathes is coming off an MVP performance in the 2012-2013 EuroCup tournament and the Grizzlies think there’s a good chance he can step over and be a quality back-up point guard.
