{"id":102031,"date":"2024-10-19T15:25:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-19T19:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=102031"},"modified":"2024-10-21T13:52:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T17:52:41","slug":"grizzlies-bolster-backcourt-depth-popular-point-guard-yuki-kawamura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/19\/grizzlies-bolster-backcourt-depth-popular-point-guard-yuki-kawamura\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies Bolster Backcourt Depth With Yuki Kawamura"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Memphis Grizzlies are hoping that they can bounce back from an injury-ravaged 2023-24 campaign that led to them going 27-55. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Desmond Bane<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a> all healthy, they have a great chance of achieving that. However, the lesson from last season was that their depth <em>really<\/em> matters.<\/p>\n<p>This offseason, that\u2019s led to the Grizzlies attempting to fortify their perimeter group.<\/p>\n<p>Though former Purdue center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edeyza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Edey<\/a> looks like <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/16\/nba-rick-carlisle-grizzlies-zach-edey-drafted-too-low\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">their best addition<\/a>, they also drafted former Washington State wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wellsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Wells<\/a>. Despite being a second-round selection, Wells already looks like he can be part of the rotation. After that, Memphis re-signed three-point specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kennard<\/a>. The Grizzlies then converted point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pippesc02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scotty Pippen Jr.<\/a>\u2019s two-way contract <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/15\/grizzlies-sign-undrafted-scotty-pippen-jr-long-term-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to a standard deal<\/a>. Essentially a replacement for the retired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Rose<\/a>, Pippen\u2019s two-way impact has been undeniable.<\/p>\n<h2>Grizzlies Bolster Backcourt Depth With Popular Point Guard Yuki Kawamura<\/h2>\n<p>Now, the Grizzlies have signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kawamyu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yuki Kawamura<\/a> to a two-way contract, per ESPN insider Shams Charania.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Memphis Grizzlies are signing Japanese guard Yuki Kawamura to a two-way NBA contract, sources tell ESPN. The 5-foot-8 Kawamura averaged 3.4 points, 4.2 assists and 15.1 minutes in preseason, leading Grizzlies with 21 total assists, and earned a roster spot. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DXTxm3vahf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/DXTxm3vahf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1847702893714866586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Though he agreed to enter training camp before the Paris Olympics, Kawamura became <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/31\/paris-olympics-japan-yuki-kawamura-signing-nba-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a known commodity<\/a> for NBA fans during the Olympic Games, averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 assists per game for Japan on 40.6 percent shooting from three.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yuki Kawamura Team Japan 2024 Olympics Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pETOCLrNIUI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The former B.League star managed to keep his momentum after arriving in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>His shot hasn\u2019t been falling, as he\u2019s gone just 4-19 from the field (4-16 from three). However, he\u2019s been a terrific facilitator, especially when given consistent minutes. In a head-turning two-game stretch, he averaged 7.5 assists in 24.5 minutes per game.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yuki Kawamura 10 pts 3 threes 7 asts vs Pacers 2024 Preseason\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yZJ9xlHWk08?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At just 23 years old, Kawamura will now get a chance to develop his game will playing for a title hopeful. He\u2019ll likely spend a substantial chunk of the 2024-25 season with the Memphis Hustle, the team\u2019s G League affiliate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Memphis Grizzlies are hoping that they can bounce back from an injury-ravaged 2023-24 campaign that led to them going 27-55. With Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Marcus Smart all healthy, they have a great chance of achieving that. However, the lesson from last season was that their depth really matters. This offseason, that\u2019s led [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":102034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,62,3],"tags":[297,1052,49401],"class_list":["post-102031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-olympics","tag-yuki-kawamura"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}