The continued empowerment of David Roddy

The Memphis Grizzlies have trusted David Roddy with numerous responsibilities, and his continued growth could lead to more empowerment.

There will be competition for minutes on the wing this season for the Memphis Grizzlies, and the player with the upper hand for the time being is likely David Roddy.

Of the young wings, Roddy played the most minutes of the crew last season, finding a groove after the All-Star break to receive spot minutes in the playoff series. A huge part to Roddy hitting his stride came from confidence instilled in him from the coaching staff. Taylor Jenkins empowered Roddy in order to mold him into being a multi-faceted NBA wing.

It’s totally understandable. From a physique standpoint, Roddy is an anomaly. He’s stands at roughly 6’5” (websites list him anywhere between 6’4” and 6’6”), weighs 255 pounds, and has a 6’11” wingspan. Coming into the league, you’d be hard-pressed to find a legitimate weakness for Roddy.

With his physical makeup and the dimensions to his game, the Grizzlies could throw David Roddy into the water, so they can expand the horizons of what he could become at the NBA level.

This past season, Roddy mirrored Dillon Brooks’ assignments when the 2nd-team All-Defense wing needed a break. Over the course of the year, he grew more comfortably putting the ball on the floor and going full-speed ahead to the basket. In the Summer League, the coaching staff put the ball in his hands to grow as a playmaker.

For Roddy’s sophomore year, it wouldn’t surprised to see them adding more responsibilities to broaden his skillset and enhance his impact and growth.

I want to start with defense, as he’ll still be slotted in the same role — this time mirroring Marcus Smart’s assignments. With a year under his belt, he should pick up more nuances in improving as a defensive stopper — sticking on ball-handlers trying to dance him away, learning how to utilize his body against drives, and navigating screens on and off the ball. In star matchups, he was throw into the fire and torched by Luka Doncic in his 3rd NBA game, but he showed upside against talents like Zion Williamson and LeBron James.

That’s not the element of defense I really want to dive into — though role depth is important, and he will have these matchups every so often. Perimeter defense, all the intricacies that come with stopping, is going to be important because of a goal Taylor Jenkins has for the defense.

Switching.

Nonetheless, from diving into Marcus Smart film lately, I’m led to one player when analyzing Roddy’s fit within a switching scheme: Grant Williams. Both players are “undersized” forwards with solid frames and utilize them on the defensive end of the floor. In switches, Williams found himself on guys like Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, or Giannis Antetokounmpo — using physicality to impact the game.

I see a similar path for Roddy.

When going through the team’s wing depth, David Roddy is the most equipped to stretch across the floor because of his frame and physicality. He could be hindered at times with his height, especially if switched onto player closer to the basket. He’ll need to improve as a rebounder to counter it (4.1 defensive rebounds per 75 possessions, 39th percentile, per The B-Ball Index).

Roddy has the tools to succeed defensively and displayed promise on that end this season — 75th percentile in The B-Ball Index’s “on-ball perimeter defense” grade. Getting thrown into the fire defensively in his rookie season could very well prepare him for the defensive infrastructure ahead.

Offensively, Roddy showed fascinating flashes as a playmaker this Summer League, making legitimate reads within the flow of the offense. He won’t be in many situations where he’s the primary initiator next season. However, the playmaking could be tapped in through side actions or off short rolls.

Roddy’s advantage creation stuck out in his rookie season, gaining a step on the defense to attack the basket. This area is where he could tap into his playmaking, dishing to a teammate via a dump-off inside or a kick-out to an open shooter.

Probably a far-fetched dream of mine, I’d love to see Roddy used more as a screener. He has the frame to do so, and he could grow as a short-roll playmaker when the offense has numbers.

His playmaking won’t be the biggest deciding factor of his playing time, but it could be at least a cool micro-development to monitor.

Offensively, the differentiator for minutes this season will be outside shooting. Roddy grew more comfortable as a 3-point shooter towards the end of the year, hitting 35.3% of his 3’s on 3.4 attempts per game in the final 15 contests of the season (excluding the season finale). He also came up big in Game 2 of the playoffs and canned 3 of his 7 three-point tries.

However, Roddy struggled overall as a shooter. He only shot 30.7% on 3’s, 31.3% in catch-and-shoot scenarios, and 33% on corner 3’s — all key thresholds for minutes among the wing, all marks players in his ideal archetype (Grant Williams, PJ Tucker) typically thrive in. While these aforementioned areas will be ones the Grizzlies coaching staff trust him in, outside shooting will be his ticket to perform.

Consistency is key. Roddy actually shot better when he let more 3’s fly. In games he fired 5 or more 3’s (16), he made 38% of them and made at least 1 triple in each contest. The Grizzlies were 10-6 in those outings. Will there be that many attempts to go around on a nightly basis? I’m not sure, but it highlights the importance of confidence, though. When he’s letting it fly confidently, good things tend to happen.

There are numerous outlets for Roddy to grow and impact the game in, though a big area of improvement from his rookie season will determine his role for next season.

David Roddy has an intriguing developmental pathway because of the ways he could impact the game. He could grow as a versatile defender into a factor for an elite defense. While “3-and-D” is his current role trajectory, he could provide more offensively as a scorer — as he’s done as a spontaneous sparkplug off the bench — and as a playmaker.

If David Roddy continues to show growth in his game, the coaching staff will continue to assign him more responsibilities to enhance his skillset en route to a larger role going forward.

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