Janis Timma – Memphis Flyer

Tony Wroten Jr. has gotten off to a rough start at the Las Vegas Summer League.

LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
Tony Wroten Jr. has gotten off to a rough start at the Las Vegas Summer League.

A surprisingly anticipated back-to-back pair of Grizzlies games at the Las Vegas Summer League last weekend turned out to be something of a dud, with two of the three players on the summer roster that are basically guaranteed to be on the regular-season roster — Jon Leuer and Jamaal Franklin — both sitting out with sprained ankles.

That left only rising second-year point guard Tony Wroten, destined-for-a-return-to-Europe late-second-round rookie Janis Timma, non-guaranteed incumbents Donte Greene and Willie Reed, and a handful of non-roster hopefuls to see.

Across two losses featuring miserable shooting, here are a few takeaways:

Tony Wroten: Wroten’s stat line across two games is u-g-l-y: 24 points on 5-23 shooting, with more turnovers (7) than assists (6). This is discouraging considering Wroten faired pretty well in his Summer League debut last year, but it’s slightly less depressing than it seems.

It’s very much an open question whether Wroten’s enticing blend of size and skill suggests true NBA potential or merely “Strotential.” But, for me, two games in Vegas didn’t really move the needle much on that uncertainty, for better or worse. We still know what we knew: Wroten is a big, athletic point guard who is aggressive and can get into the lane and to the line (25 free-throw attempts over two games, that’s good), but has to get better from the line (56%, that’s not) to take advantage of this attribute. He’s a good passer, but is playing without shooters or finishers in Vegas so far. He can’t shoot (0-7 from three) and needs to develop more consistency and modulate his tendency to go for the highlight play. Can he put his size and athleticism to the service of sound NBA defense?

Hopefully Wroten will settle down and show better as summer league progresses, but I’m especially interested to see him with the real team, where his passes will find better targets and having other viable scorers on the floor will hopefully make him more judicious in calling his own number. New coach Dave Joerger has talked about picking up the pace and trying to generate more lay-ups and free throws (including in this in-game interview from last night). That’s Wroten’s game. Whether he can translate it to the NBA level remains a mystery for the moment.

Kosta Koufos

A quick, late-night look at what seemed to be a nice first draft night for the Grizzlies’ new front office, with follow-up tomorrow:

Move 1: Traded Darrell Arthur and the #55 pick to Denver for center Kosta Koufos
I thought there was a chance that Arthur could move on draft night, but for a late-first-round pick. And expected him to move this off-season regardless, but to free up more payroll space under the tax line for other moves. Instead, it came in the form of a (basically) financially even player-for-player deal with only minor draft implications.

But this looks like a good move for the Grizzlies. They checked off their second or third biggest off-season need (a true back-up center to play behind Marc Gasol) and cleared up a crowded scene at power forward, solidifying Ed Davis as the back-up power forward and creating a potential opportunity to develop Jon Leuer as a fifth big. The team’s entire frontcourt rotation fits together better now.

Beyond that, they likely got the better — or at least most valuable — player in the deal: Koufos is a 24-year-old true center (7’0”, 265 pounds) who started 81 games for a playoff team in Denver last season. Koufos averaged 8 points and 7 rebounds a game on 58% shooting in 22 minutes a game in what was something of a breakout fifth season. He’s a much better rebounder than Arthur and doesn’t have as troubling an injury history. He’s a more efficient scorer than Arthur, but won’t space the floor the same way. His offense is primarily rooted in the paint. Koufos will allow Marc Gasol to get some needed rest and should be among the NBA’s best back-up centers.

Arthur, when healthy, is a better player than he showed last season. But there’s reason to wonder how much he can get back to his peak form. And this front office — high on Ed Davis — was not as high on Arthur as, for instance, Lionel Hollins was.

Financially, it’s also a plus. The deal frees up an extra $200,000 or so this season, but, more significantly, it puts the Grizzlies in the driver’s seat for 2014-2015. Arthur’s deal was a player option for $3.5 million that season. Koufos’ deal is a team option for $3 million, which is more advantageous for the Grizzlies.