Memphis Grizzlies: 4 players who raised their stock during Summer League

Kennedy Chandler Summer League Stats

Coming in to the exhibition series, we knew Chandler would no longer have the pressure of being the No. 2 point guard on the team’s depth chart after Tyus Jones agree to re-sign with the team for a couple of more seasons.

We saw a few different versions of Chandler in Summer League: starting point guard, off-ball combo guard and rotation player off the bench.

Kennedy showed promise in each of those roles and was never rattled too much by being put in different situations. One thing that was constant throughout his playing time was his aggressive approach on defense. He averaged 2.3 steals per game in six games, which is outstanding. .

His ability and basketball IQ allow him to read defenses incredibly well and get himself in position to make a play on the ball.

Even though he’s considered by today’s NBA standards as “undersized,” his quickness (and 6’8″ wingspan) will allow him to play alongside Ja Morant this season for stretches and help cover up any weakness covering opposing guards.

Just taking into account his time competing in Las Vegas, he outperformed several of the guards drafted ahead of him, statistically speaking.

Here’s how Kennedy fared in Summer League:

• Grizzlies vs 76ers: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts, 4 stls, 3 blks
• Grizzlies vs Thunder: DNP
• Grizzlies vs Jazz: 12 pts, 2 asts, 2 stls, 1 reb
• Grizzlies vs Clippers: 6 pts, 3 asts, 2 rebs, 2 stls
• Grizzlies vs T-Wolves: 9 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls
• Grizzlies vs Nets: 9 pts, 6 asts, 3 stls, 2 rebs
• Grizzlies vs Celtics: 11 pts, 10 asts, 4 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk

David Roddy Summer League Stats

The big, surprise first-round pick for the Memphis Grizzlies in this year’s draft, David Roddy, showed plenty of reason why this front office was aggressive in acquiring him.

Roddy struggled a bit in his first game, as anyone probably would, scoring just 4 points and pulling in 4 rebounds. Nerves were probably rampant, thoughts of doubt may have started creep in and turned into unnecessary pressure to perform and show why he was worthy of being drafted.

Those were quickly shook off because he looked better and better after each game. For games three through seven, he averaged 14.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 2.2 apg and had a mixture of starting and coming off the bench.

Everyone thought drafting Roddy at No. 23 overall was a stretch for Memphis, now it looks like a really great pick-up— even accounting for the small sample size.

You can envision a scenario in which Roddy gets some serious consideration for minutes with the second unit next season. He looks like the most complete player in our rookie class and can play multiple positions.

Having his mentor, Tyus Jones, on the team will make for an easier transition and help him pick up the system even more rapidly than he’s shown in his first games for the Grizzlies.

Here’s how the David Roddy performed in Summer League:

• Grizzlies vs 76ers: 4 pts, 4 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls
• Grizzlies vs Thunder: DNP
• Grizzlies vs Jazz: 16pts, 5 rebs, 1 ast
• Grizzlies vs Clippers: 10 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts, 1 blk
• Grizzlies vs T-Wolves: 10 pts, 9 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk
• Grizzlies vs Nets: 20 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk
• Grizzlies vs Celtics: 16 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts