66ers Acquire No. 1 Overall Pick and Ben Uzoh
October 31, 2013 - NBA G League (G League)
Tulsa 66ers News Release
TULSA, Okla., October 31, 2013 - The Tulsa 66ers have acquired the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Development League Draft along with NBA veteran guard Ben Uzoh in a three-team trade with the Iowa Energy and Springfield Armor, the team announced today.
The 66ers exchanged the rights of Oklahoma City Thunder training camp invite guard Diante Garrett along with Tulsa's 11th overall pick in the upcoming draft to Iowa. The Energy sent the No. 1 overall pick to the 66ers and guard Lorenzo Brown and the No. 6 overall pick to Springfield while the Armor sent the No. 3 overall pick to Iowa and Uzoh to Tulsa.
The 2013 NBA D-League Draft will take place via Cisco WebEx Meeting Center from the league's New York headquarters on Friday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. CT.
Uzoh (6-3, 205, University of Tulsa) spent the 2012-13 season with Springfield, averaging 12.6 points, 5.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 50 games (47 starts). Bringing three years of NBA D-League experience to Tulsa, the guard holds career averages of 13.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 74 games (68 starts). Uzoh has also seen action in 60 career NBA games (8 starts) with New Jersey, Cleveland and Toronto, averaging 4.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Additionally, the 66ers announced that six returning players and two open tryout participants have been invited to Tulsa's training camp. Tulsa forwards Rodney Bartholomew and Mario Little and guard Isaiah Wilkerson will be returning from the 2012-13 squad along with forwards Gary Johnson and Larry Owens and guard Xavier Alexander from the 2011-12 team. Guards Robert Jarvis and Jonas Lalehzadeh have been invited to training camp after participating in Tulsa's open tryouts in October.
Bartholomew (6-8, 230, Indiana Tech) totaled double-digit points 11 times last season, posting an average of 5.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 15.6 minutes in 47 games (three starts). Bartholomew scored a career-high 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the field in Tulsa's regular season finale against Fort Wayne on April 6.
Little (6-6, 218, Kansas) averaged 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 12.4 minutes in 15 games (one start) and Wilkerson (6-3, 215, N.J. Institute of Technology) averaged 1.9 points and 7.4 minutes in 28 games.
Johnson (6-7, 230, Texas) was originally drafted by the 66ers in the first round of the 2011 NBA D-League Draft with the 16th overall pick but did not compete that season due to injury. In his senior season at Texas, Johnson averaged 11.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 36 games (36 starts). Johnson spent the 2012-13 season with Hapoel Kazrin in Israel, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 29.4 minutes in 17 games.
Owens (6-7, 215, Oral Roberts) enters training camp after spending the 2012-13 season with Dijon in France. Prior to his time overseas, Owens spent three seasons with the 66ers, where he holds franchise career records for points (1,731), field goals made (662), field goals attempted (1,412), steals (187), games played (137), games started (118) and minutes played (4,281). In his career with Tulsa, Owens averages 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 34.2 minutes in 137 games (118 starts).
Owens received multiple NBA call-ups during his previous stint with Tulsa, signing with the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards in 2010-11 and the New Jersey Nets in 2011-12. In 19 total NBA appearances, Owens averaged 2.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 11.5 minutes.
Alexander (6-6, 225, Southern Nazarene) averaged 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 42 games (nine starts) with Tulsa in 2011-12. He spent last season in Poland with Siarka Jezioro, putting together 9.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 32 appearances.
Jarvis (5-11, 185, Oral Roberts), the 2008 Summit League Sixth Man of the Year, spent the past two seasons playing in Mexico and Iceland. He averaged 15.4 points, 2.5 assists and 1.9 rebounds with Nogales in Mexico last year.
Lalehzadeh (6-5, 205, California-Irvine) averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals for Petrochimi Mahshahr in Iran in 2012-13. He is currently a member of the Iranian National Team.
Fans can follow the eight-round NBA D-League Draft on Friday night at nba.com/dleague, which will feature the picks updated in real time with an opportunity for fan commentary. The 66ers will be hosting a draft party at Savastano's Pizzeria (8211 E. Regal Plaza, Suite 209, Tulsa, OK 74133). Fans are encouraged to arrive just before Tulsa makes the first overall pick at 6 p.m.
Tulsa's current training camp roster heading into the draft is listed below.
Name Position Height Weight From D-League Exp.
Xavier Alexander G 6-6 225 Southern Nazarene 1
Rodney Bartholomew F 6-8 230 Indiana Tech 1
Robert Jarvis G 5-11 185 Oral Roberts R
Gary Johnson F 6-7 230 Texas R
Jonas Lalehzadeh G 6-5 205 California-Irvine R
Mario Little F 6-6 218 Kansas 1
Larry Owens F 6-7 215 Oral Roberts 3
Ben Uzoh G 6-3 205 Tulsa 3
Isaiah Wilkerson G 6-3 215 N.J. Institute of Technology 1
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