Memphis Grizzlies: Kyle Anderson Makes Perfect Sense
By Justin Lewis
The Memphis Grizzlies have signed forward Kyle Anderson to a 4-year deal, giving the full MLE to the San Antonio Spur turned Restricted Free Agent.
This is not the first reaction post you have read nor will it be the last one that gets written about this move for Memphis. Based off social media reaction, much like the drafting of Jaren Jackson Jr., there seems to be a lack of understanding of who Kyle Anderson truly is and what he truly brings to the table.
Perhaps the most shocking thing about this offseason for the Memphis Grizzlies Front Office is the fact that their plans have not been leaked beforehand. In this social media age, more often than not, rumors of internal discussions are always flying because someone is anonymously sharing with the media.
Not Memphis. Not this year. General Manager Chris Wallace and his team have left us in the dark wondering all summer. Only a rare few saw Jaren Jackson Jr. as a legit fit for this team. No one saw the Omri Casspi signing coming. Now we have this.
Fans hoped and perhaps expected Chris Wallace to land one of Tyreke Evans, Will Barton, Avery Bradley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Smart, or Rodney Hood. Well, Evans never even got a phone call. Bradley was not really considered because of some legal issues. They swung for KCP, but he opted to play with Lebron James in Los Angeles.
If Kyle Anderson was on anyone’s wishlist, he was not very high up on it. With Marcus Smart and Rodney Hood, also Restricted Free-Agents, still on the table, news broke that we opted for Kyle Anderson. I would argue that it is because we should not waste time chasing players we know we cannot ultimately afford.
So here we are. If the Spurs decline to match this offer, Kyle Anderson just makes sense.
“But Kyle Anderson’s best season was only averaging 7 points per game!”
Basketball, at the highest level, at it’s most beautiful apex is about so much more than points per game. Looking at points per game as the only determination of the value of a player is as one dimensional as Kyle Korver.
If Kyle Anderson were a top-three player on a team, seven points per game would concern me. If he were on a pace and space offense, it would concern me. But Anderson played for Greg Popovich, one of the greatest, if not the best coaches of all-time. Coach Pop does not spread the floor, try to score in seven seconds or less, or care about players’ individual stats.
Instead, Popovich, like all great coaches, builds their team around their best players. Kyle Anderson certainly would not have cracked the top-three, even after the Kawhi Leonard injury. The touches in San Antonio rightfully went to LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, and Rudy Gay first. No arguments here.
Anderson got up 6.7 shots per game total. Very quickly, it can be pointed out that Anderson had the best FG% on the team. Hopefully by now its universally known that the FG% stat does not tell the full picture. To best gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of a player contributing in terms of scoring the basketball, one must turn to the True Shooting % statistic.
According to his 2017-18 campaign, Kyle Anderson is an efficient contributor on the basketball court. He was SECOND on the team in TS% (.582), trailing only Davis Bertans with a minimum of 50 games played. He was more efficient with his opportunities than Aldridge, Gasol, Gay, Murray, Mills, Parker, and Ginobli (all those guys everyone knows on the Spurs).
Anderson also had the LOWEST usage % of any player on the Spurs that played more than just 15 games this season. That screams to all of us that Popp was not looking to get Anderson the ball. He scored seven points a game touching the ball the least on the team.
Why Anderson Fits in Memphis
Is it possible to find a player that both fits the mold of the Memphis Grizzlies going against what the NBA is moving towards and a player that fits the mold of what the NBA is moving towards?
Answer: see Kyle Anderson.
Anderson is a 6’9 basketball player. Not a forward. Not a guard. A basketball player. He can play and guard 4 positions on the floor. In a league transitioning to position-less basketball, Kyle can switch and guard almost anyone on the floor, and do it at very high level.
On top of his size and versatility, he has the beloved 7’2 wingspan. Putting it simply, that matters. Players at Anderson’s size are most often found to be the prototypical Power Forward or the rare athletic Small Forward. Not in today’s NBA. 6’9″ players with guard skills are taking over the league, and that is exactly what he is.
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So he fits the mold of the position less NBA player with guard skills in a forward’s body and wingspan. But he also fits in Memphis. With the drafting of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jevon Carter, the Grizzlies are doubling down on Grit ‘N’ Grind while they can.
While every team in the NBA is game planning to win against pace and space, the Memphis Grizzlies are going to punch teams in the mouth every night, drag them into the mud, and make them earn every point. Being different is not always a bad thing as long as you are different with vision and purpose for that difference.
Kyle Anderson is exactly the kind of player that would fit perfectly in Memphis. The Grizzlies have one of the highest IQ players in the league in Marc Gasol. They have no stars that demand the spotlight or even the ball. Anderson can bring his humble, hard working, defensive minded attitude to Beale Street and be loved immediately by the fans.
Anderson Is Worth The Deal
The Memphis Grizzlies for so long have desperately needed a three-and-d guy. While Anderson’s overall three point percentage will not jump off the page at you, know this: he did shoot 40% on corner threes last season. He was also top-10 in defensive rating last year as well.
Salaries in Memphis will start coming off the books over the next few years and the salary cap will increase. Kyle Anderson is 24, so he has yet to even hit his prime. Landing this player for the Mid-Level Exception, with his youth, his great health, his potential, and his efficiency, would be an absolute steal in hindsight.
For once, maybe Chris Wallace had some foresight.
Now we wait for San Antonio to match or decline.