The Grizzlies held their first draft workout today, examining a trio of 6’8”-ish forward prospects: Israeli prospect Omri Casspi, USC’s Davon Jefferson, and Mississippi State’s Charles Rhodes.
The skinny:
Omri Casspi: Casspi struggled a little bit to get his shot off in live drills when he found himself on the block against Jefferson or Rhodes, but that isn’t how he’ll play at the NBA level. When it came to perimeter and full-court drills, Casspi showed he had, by far, the best small-forward skills on display — running, handling, and shooting well enough to play the on the wing in the NBA. He also showed pretty good conditioning and coachability.
The biggest question with Casspi seems to be whether he really has the raw talent to excel at the NBA level: He’s got size, a defined position, and well-rounded skills, but he isn’t an explosive athlete, a pure shooter, or a great playmaker. He projects more as a 7th-to-9th-man type if he pans out. Now, if you can find a quality bench player at #28, that’s fine value, and the Grizzlies do have a need for a back-up small forward. Casspi would fill a niche and provide some shooting and toughness at that spot.
The sense I got about Casspi situation, from talking to multiple team officials as well as one of Casspi’s representatives is this: He’s a legit candidate for the pick at #28, but probably not among the most likely contenders. I suspect the team will look for someone with more upside and the chance to play a bigger role than Casspi would playing behind Rudy Gay. From Casspi’s perspective, he’s looking for a first-round promise (which he won’t get from the Grizzlies) and could pull out of the draft if he doesn’t get it. He hopes to be in the NBA next season, though. Casspi has one year remaining on his Israeli military commitment, but his representative said he has a waiver if he’s able to come to the NBA, so that shouldn’t be an obstacle.
Davon Jefferson: Jefferson was thought of as a late-first-round contender initially, but apparently performed poorly at Orlando and certainly looked more like a second-rounder today. Jefferson showed some intriguing, raw tools, but his conditioning wasn’t up to expectations and didn’t display the skill level you’d want out of a small forward, the position he’d need to play. Without a second-round pick, I don’t think he’s much of a contender for the Grizzlies.
Charles Rhodes: Rhodes was impressive today, but didn’t really look like an NBA-level player. He showed excellent conditioning and effort and good strength and explosiveness, but is just too much of a tweener: He’s got a power-forward’s game in a small-forward’s body and doesn’t seem to have the power or raw skills to settle in at either spot. He looked smaller than such recent Griz bench players as Andre Brown, Alexander Johnson, and Lawrence Roberts. If he isn’t drafted, Rhodes should be on somebody’s Summer League roster, but is probably more likely to find a home in the NBDL or overseas next season than in the League.
