LAS VEGAS — If Chimezie Metu had to do it all over again, he would.

He doesn’t see any other choice.

Others in the rather laissez-faire environment of NBA Summer League might have allowed the wayward lob pass to sail over his head and into the front row of the Thomas & Mack Center. Instead, the Spurs center jumped in an over-ambitious attempt to go get the ball and came crashing to the court.

“I don’t ever think about things like that,” Metu said Wednesday, three days after his spill in a victory over Washington. “I’m just out there playing.”

Metu landed awkwardly from his leap and, for his trouble, ended up with a left wrist injury that appears poised to scuttle the remainder of his Las Vegas Summer League.

He was initially diagnosed with a sprain upon X-rays taken at the scene. Spurs doctors in San Antonio saw the images and — out of an abundance of caution — recommended further testing for a possible fracture.

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Metu’s time running amok for the Spurs at Summer League appears done. When the team resumes tournament play Thursday against Milwaukee, Metu will be in street clothes.

“It sucks,” said Metu, the high-energy center the Spurs selected 49th overall out of USC in June. “I can go play right now. They said it might be fractured, but honestly it feels perfectly fine.”

The tournament-ending injury is a combination of bad luck and bad timing for Metu. For a second-round pick fighting to earn an invitation to training camp, every second on the floor in front of the watchful eyes of coaches and front office staff counts.

Good thing for Metu, he made plenty of hay with the audition he has already received this summer.

The 6-foot-10 Metu averaged 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and a block in three games at the Utah Summer League. He followed that by averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two appearances in Vegas.

Overlooked in a draft well-stocked with big men — five of the top seven selections are 6-10 or taller — Metu arrived in San Antonio with a sizeable chip on his shoulder.

“If you ask me, I don’t think there’s 48 people better than me in this draft,” Metu said. “I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m better than a second-round pick. I can go out there and compete with anyone else.”

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Spurs staffers remain high on Metu, who they view as the type of center required in today’s small-ball age.

He is quick and versatile and can move well enough to defend along the perimeter as needed.

“He can stretch the floor a little bit and open up passing lanes,” assistant general manager Brian Wright said. “He will also be able to play some with his back to the basket and some in pick and roll, and then help you on the glass and help you some with his shot-blocking. He has a versatile game.”

Already in Metu’s short stint in Utah and Las Vegas, Summer League coach Will Hardy had come to rely on the 21-year-old to anchor the front line of his defense.

Metu’s offensive game is not yet all the way polished, but Hardy sees progress in that area as well.

“Chimezie has shown a good variety to his game, whether that’s popping or rolling,” Hardy said. “He is going to fit in great.”

For now, and much to his own frustration, Metu’s development has been placed on temporary hold.

Nobody is as surprised at this unfortunate turn of events as Metu.

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He took his ill-fated tumble late in Sunday’s game, which he finished without further incident.

Metu left the Thomas & Mack Center afterward convinced he had suffered a wrist sprain. Truth be told, given the Spurs’ vigilance with bumps and bruises during the summertime, that might have been enough to end Metu’s tournament on its own.

Metu said he understands the Spurs’ caution but is frustrated by what he views as a missed opportunity.

“I’m kind of bummed,” Metu said. “They’re being cautious for good reasons. I trust them. At the same time, I feel like there’s a lot more I could go out there and show.”

Metu doesn’t believe the injury will keep him out long, and is still optimistic he can secure an invitation to training camp in September.

If he does not, however, it will be difficult not to look back on his aborted time in Vegas and wonder what might have been.

“I’m going to feel that I didn’t get a full chance to make my mark,” Metu said. “If I do end up not getting invited, I didn’t really get a chance to earn that spot. That’s why it sucks I don’t get to finish this out.”

If nothing else, Metu’s misfortune in Las Vegas has provided him with a new goal moving forward.

“Hopefully in preseason and training camp,” he said, “I get to go out there and finish what I started.”

Jeff McDonald is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | Jmcdonald@express-news.net | Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN