Memphis Grizzlies 2017-18 Player Review: Wayne Selden

Coming off of a break out year last season, Wayne Selden battled injuries in year two.

Wayne Selden had a tough season. He was hoping to be the starting shooting guard on a good Memphis Grizzlies team. So many guys, including himself, got injured and the team really struggled. Wayne Selden had a great playoff series against the Spurs last year and he built off of that and had a good year.

He was limited to just 35 games this season but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t effective. He missed the first couple months and at that point the Grizzlies were going into tank mode. There was no reason to rush Selden back. He is a young player who has continued to develop in his time in the league.

Breaking Down This Season

Despite being injured for much of the season, Selden was still able to show some improvements from a year ago. He shot 40% from deep which is up from 25% from deep last season. That was one of his biggest concerns coming into the league and one of the reasons he went undrafted so it’s nice to see him improving in that area.

His ability to be this teams lockdown defender was never really put to the test. He was a solid defender but we can’t take to much away from how he played on that side of the ball as this team wasn’t really ever in a situation where they asked him to lock down an opposing star in a big game.

Strangely enough, his 43.1 field goal percentage is actually the same as it was last season. His improvement at the three throw line is very encouraging. You hope he can continue to improve that in the years to come.  He shot 75% this season after shooting 64% last season. He shot less than two free throws a game both of those years but an 11% difference is great to see.

Looking Ahead

Wayne Selden is entering a contract year this season so expect him to play well because of that. He is gonna do whatever it takes to prove to the Grizzlies and other teams that he deserves a nice payday.

He is gonna be looking to prove to the Grizzlies that he’s worth investing in for the long haul. Selden is gonna be given the opportunity to fight for the starting shooting guard spot for this future or at the very least be one of the key players off the bench.

Wayne Selden has continued to develop each year even when he was at Kansas. Expect him to continue to grow going into next year. If he can stay healthy, expect him to have an impact on the success of this team.