Grizzlies target frontcourt help in Wednesday draft workout

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- At Kentucky, Dakari Johnson didn't get the floor time he would have gotten at other schools.

But Johnson got first-team treatment from the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Dakari is a real student of the game and is conscientious a young man as I have ever encountered in a workout setting," said Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace. "We took him out to eat. ... He was locked in to both myself and (VP of player personnel) Ed Stefanski."

The sophomore center was one of six NBA prospects the Grizzlies worked out Wednesday morning at FedExForum. Memphis has the 25th pick in the June 25 draft.

Johnson averaged 6.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and nearly a block a game for Kentucky. He played only 16.3 minutes per game.

While some think Johnson could have used more time in college to broaden his skill set, there was an obvious platoon on that loaded Wildcats frontcourt -- including potential No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.

Johnson is huge (7-foot, 265 pounds), but outside of the NBA-center size, he's neither explosive nor glamorous -- which makes perfect sense for the Grizzlies. He's 19 years old with second-round, sneaky late first-round potential.

"(Johnson) understands this is a long journey for success in the NBA," Wallace said. "You're not going to be an overnight sensation, just a sponge soaking up everything about the league, from travel to summer workouts. Very bright young man, made tremendous progress under Coach (John) Calipari. He's going to be in the NBA a long time."

It was a big-man workout. Four of the six prospects were centers, including St. Bonaventure senior Youssou Ndoye, French prospect Mouhammadou Jaiteh and Tennessee Tech's Charles Jackson.

Wallace said this had nothing to do with Marc Gasol's pending free agency, or that Kosta Koufos could be on his way to a payday elsewhere.

"Theses are guys that if you're where we are in the draft, you should be seeing, particularly Dakari Johnson. A lot of it's with scheduling, too, the availability all came (Wednesday). It was good, generally, to have this many big guys at one time. That's not usually the case."

The bigs were joined by Boise State G Derrick Marks and Tennessee-Martin G Marshun Newell for the Grizzlies' second predraft workout.

The third workout has been scheduled for Thursday.

The Grizzlies don't shy away from giving Memphis-area talents a shot. Newell, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, played at Middle College High School and junior-college ball in town at Southwest Tennessee.

Newell was a 42-percent shooter last season, from inside the arc and out.

"He's a very competitive, athletic guard, hampered a little bit. He had been dinged up some," says Wallace of Newell. "You always take a look at (his 3-point shooting)."