With the Memphis Grizzlies’ season kicking off in late October, that also means the return of their D-League affiliate, the Iowa Energy. Last year, three players—James Ennis, Russ Smith and Jarell Martin—played minutes with the Grizzlies after excelling with the Energy. In a series of analyses, we’ll go through the roster in an attempt to decipher who has the greatest chance to earn a call-up to the NBA in 2016-2017.
DJ Stephens, Forward
There has already been an excellent piece on why DJ Stephens deserves a call-up on this site. He’s so good that we felt that we needed to tell you again. Stephens is a bouncy (ok, very bouncy) 6’5” wing for the Iowa Energy. To say that he had an inauspicious start to his collegiate career may be severely understating the fact. University of Memphis Coach Josh Pastner offered him a scholarship before seeing him play; except he had seen him play and Stephens was so underwhelming Pastner could not remember him. After three years of spotty minutes and battling minor injuries, Stephens burst onto the scene as an energy guy his senior season. He averaged just under 24 minutes a game and didn’t receive many looks from NBA scouts.
Stephens crossed the pond the following season playing for Ilysiakos BC in the Greek A1 league following his graduation. He had very solid play over 18 games with per game averages of 9.8 points and 8.8 rebounds. He got into three NBA games in the 2013-14 season for a grand total of 15 minutes with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Last season, Stephens split time between the Canton Charge and the Iowa Energy. His line for the Energy is very, very, appealing: 11 games, 3.4. mpg, 16.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.3 bpg, 0.8 topg, 21.4 PER, .550 FG%, .623 2PT %, .419 3PT%, .730 FT%.
Those shooting percentages are nice and they are a big time improvement over his numbers in past seasons.
Odds of receiving a call-up?
Stephens has multiple things going for him in terms of a call-up. If you were to poll our staff, you would find that many of us believe the Grizz are in need of wing depth. Stephens has shown flashes of two-way potential; his natural athleticism predisposes him to being a strong, physical defender and his shooting splits for the Energy show promise of a strong spot up shooter. Stephens projects to be an end of the rotation defender/energy guy that can hit some open shots and shatter rims with his dunking ability. Another plus? Memphians will remember him for his fantastic senior year with the University of Memphis Tigers. Hey, it can’t hurt to have a fan favorite off of the bench that can get the crowd roaring with alley-oops.
DJ Stephens will likely begin the season on the Energy roster. He inked a partially guaranteed deal with the Grizzlies over the summer, showing the front office believes that he can be an asset for them going forward. At worst, Stephens provides a solid backup option if injuries again plague the roster. At best, Stephens could be an 8-10 minutes guy that provides energy with bench units.