At one point it seemed Melvin Ejim was destined for a trip to the D-League and Erie. His play this summer though has warranted a closer look come camp.
When the Orlando Magic announced they had signed Melvin Ejim off their Summer League team, it met the usual collective shrug that comes with late offseason signings. Teams are filling out their rosters with players for training camp and possibly for their D-League team.
He went undrafted out of Iowa State and spent last year playing overseas away from the NBA. He got his shot at Summer League and was good, but hardly a standout.
Like Drew Crawford, Seth Curry, Kadeem Batts and Peyton Siva last year, it felt like Ejim was destined for the D-League. He would be a guy the Magic wanted to keep a close eye on and keep within their system, getting him a guarantee through training camp before pushing him to Erie for a year of seasoning before a second Summer League tour.
As always, any player can make the roster. Training camp is the ultimate decider for coach Scott Skiles and his staff. A player can unseat a guy with the way he works and plays during this month of preparation — just ask DeQuan Jones.
Other circumstances though might bring a bit more to light regarding Ejim. Most of which has been his play for Canada at the FIBA Americas Championship.
For Canada at the FIBA Americas Championship, Ejim is averaged 6.0 points per game on 18-for-33 shooting (54.5 percent). He has also added 5.1 rebounds per game. He has become a much more consistent contributor than the Magic’s Andrew Nicholson (6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds per game), although Nicholson had a strong finish to the tournament.
It is hard not to notice Ejim now because of his versatility.
Ejim was solid at Summer League, but not spectacular. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on 45.2 percent shooting. Again, these were not spectacular numbers. He was consistent scoring wise and was solid on the glass.
For a perimeter player who stands at 6-foot-6, the rebounding numbers are particularly impressive. This is a guy who plays bigger than his size (perhaps his undoing when it came to his draft prospects as he got the dreaded tweener label).
He averaged 17.8 points per game in his final year at Iowa State in 2014, shooting 50.5 percent from the floor. He also averaged 8.4 rebounds per game. His senior year included a 48-point game against TCU and a 30-point game against Kansas State.
Ejim played for Virtus Roma last year, averaging 7.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Through his play the last year with Virtus Roma, the Magic Summer League team and Canada, Ejim has shown he can be a player doing the dirty work and not a guy who needs the ball in his hands to succeed. He seems to have a solid base to build a good defensive player.
Aaron Mah of Hoops Habit elaborated on Ejim’s potential both good and bad:
"Make no bones about it, Melvin Ejim can ball.Serving as a high-motor energizer who earned his stripes through creating havoc in transition and on the offensive boards, the Toronto, Ontario, native was a dominant multi-functioning force in college.But, standing at a smidge under 6’7″ in shoes, Ejim was seen as somewhat of a tweener by NBA scouts — not quite long enough to play the four, but not quite skilled enough to changeover full-time into a swingman.More specifically, while he is a willing, and at times, capable shooter — converting on approximately 35 percent and 33 percent of his 3-point attempts during his senior season in college, and last year, at the Eurocup/Italian league, respectively — his limited handle, creativity, and middling first-step hinders his prospects as an NBA-caliber perimeter player."
There is no doubt intrigue remains with Ejim. He has all these physical tools and the NBA is swinging more toward players of his type. Comparing him to Draymond Green might be a bit much, but Green was a power forward who needed to develop perimeter skills when he came into the league too. Ejim might be just going the other way (from perimeter to developing inside post skills).
Against some professional competition, Ejim has already produced some encouraging numbers.
Ejim’s chances to make the Magic’s roster will come down to what Skiles prefers and how he plays in training camp. It might come down to how he compete with Devyn Marble — a similar player by position, if not by type (Marble swings more toward the perimeter than the post as a wing defender). It might come down to what the Magic need.
What has become clear throughout this summer though is Ejim is not just a throwaway player. He is not a guy to just send to the D-League and wait for his development. He may certainly still end up being that, the option is there. But Ejim has earned his chance for a real look at the Magic roster.
And the Magic would be right to give him that shot and the opportunity to play.