Grizzlies take Vanderbilt's Wade Baldwin with 17th pick in NBA draft
With Mike Conley's future up in the air, the Memphis Grizzlies added some insurance -- and they didn't venture far from home to get it. They took Vanderbilt's Wade Baldwin IV with the No. 17 pick in Thursday's NBA draft.
Baldwin is highest pick Memphis has spent on a point guard since selecting Conley at No. 4 in 2007.
The 6-foot-4, 194-pound point guard averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 assists (both team highs) and four rebounds a game for the Commodores as a sophomore, earning All-SEC second-team honors.
#Grizzlies take one of the most athletic guards available at No. 17 in Vanderbilt point guard Wade Baldwin. pic.twitter.com/9BClZ5Z9ZU
— FOX Sports Tennessee (@FOXSportsTN) June 24, 2016
Should Conley, who is an unrestricted free agent, return to Memphis, Baldwin could slide into a backup role or be a starting option if Conley decides to sign elsewhere.
During his freshman season, Baldwin set a program record with 155 assists by a first-year player.
A career 42.2 percent 3-point shooter, he can aid a Memphis offense was 25th in the league attempts last season, and ranked 29th in shooting percentage from distance (33.1). Those deficiencies were rooted in Mike Conley and Mario Chalmers' season-ending injuries and the trades of Courtney Lee and Jeff Green, leaving the Grizzlies without four of their top six shooters from distance.
Baldwin is the second straight SEC player taken by the Grizzlies, who selected LSU's Jarell Martin at No. 25 last season. While he's the sixth Vanderbilt player to be taken in the first round -- following John Jenkins and Festus Ezeli in 2012, Will Perdue in 1988, Jeff Turner in '84 and Clyde Lee in '66 -- only Lee, who was taken third by the Warriors, went higher than Baldwin.
