Larry Owens Called-Up By Washington Wizards From The NBA D-League

Larry Owens has been called up to the Washington Wizards from the NBA D-League's Tulsa 66ers, Ridiculous Upside has learned from a source close to the situation. With the move -- and the Wizards planning to sign fellow D-League call-up Othyus Jeffers for the remainder of the season -- Washington will have to release a player to stay at the 15-man roster limit.

Owens, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 30 minutes per game in the Development League season. His impact on the court, however, is much more impressive than his box score statistics seem to infer.

Owens has played the role of a glue guy for the 66ers this season, making sure the offense is clicking while anchoring the team's defense while typically taking a backseat to the four Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks as well as Elijah Millsap and Jerome Dyson, players who spent time with the Thunder this preseason.

When Owens' offensive production in needed, however, he's been able to deliver in spades with the best example coming at this time last season. With the majority of Tulsa's regular season contributors in theNBA, Owens was able to lead the 66ers to the D-League finals by averaging 18.5 points on 50% field goal shooting (and 46% three-point shooting), 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks over the course of eight games.

In talking to an NBA scout during the D-League Showcase -- where Owens impressed enough to earn a call-up to the San Antonio Spurs shortly after -- he was impressed with nearly ever facet of Owens' game.

"Last season Larry really blossomed offensively, especially in the playoffs," the scout said. "He can score in every way -- He's good on the one-dribble pull up, he can go to the rim and finishesand he's really shooting well from the 3 point line."

This season, it seems like he's focusing more on his defense," the scout continued. "He's long, wiry and really gets his hands on a lot of balls. His foot speed is good enough to stay in front of quick wings, too, so I'm surprised he's not on more teams radars. He's definitely on ours."

He was apparently on the Wizards' as well and will hopefully get a decent opportunity to show them what he's capable of during the remaining week of the season.

Owens is the third D-League call-up of the season for the Wizards, joining Jeffers and Mustafa Shakur.'