How Toby Okani, Javon Small Did in Their First Game as Teammates in the NBA

Earlier this week, former West Virginia forward Toby Okani signed a 10-day contract to join the Memphis Grizzlies, meaning he would be teaming up once again with his point guard from his days in Morgantown, Javon Small.

Okani has had an okay season in the G League with the Westchester Knicks, but his length and defensive ability are what stood out to the Grizzlies, who want to get a closer look at him before the end of the season.

Sometimes, guys will sign 10-day contracts and never play in a game, being there solely for depth purposes. That's not the case for Okani.

He checked into the game in the first quarter against Toronto on Friday night and ended up playing the second-most minutes of anyone in a Grizzlies uniform (28 minutes). He recorded seven points on 3/8 shooting (1/3 3FG) to go along with seven rebounds (three offensive), a steal, and a block.

“Today was probably the most challenging situation because neither guy has been in the program before, so everything is basically new," Memphis head coach Tuomas Iisalo said about the additions of Okani and Dariq Whitehead. "Went through in the morning a few basic things, and I thought the effort level was great and definitely wasn’t about that. It takes more than one shootaround.”

As for Small, he continues to make the most of his opportunity with Ja Morant sidelined, chipping in 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. One of the things that has impressed Iisalo the most is his ability to finish through contact in the paint despite being an undersized guard.

“I think he has a lot of good offensive qualities, and that’s one that we observed going into the draft. We’ve encouraged him even more to look for those paint touches. He has a very good burst, and he can leverage his over 40% pull-up three accuracy into that. Guys have to be very close to him, and that opens up those possibilities. He’s developing that package at the rim while also doing a good job orchestrating the offense and not so much getting guys to go into different spots, but when he’s running the actions, the library of reads is developing a lot for him. It’s been really valuable for him to get this experience late in this season.”

Okani, Small, and the Grizzlies will be back at it on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Bucks.