2022 NBA Draft: Previewing Potential Second Rounder David Roddy

Here at Detroit Bad Boys we try and give you as in-depth NBA Draft coverage as possible whether it be the first round, second round, or even the team’s potential undrafted free agents. While the majority of the talk has been about the team’s 5^th overall pick—and rightly so—the team does also currently own the No. 46 pick in the second round, and I would like to begin diving into potential prospects who could potentially be available in the second round.

Rather than doing the usual: stats, positives, negatives, NBA comparison, and fit on the Pistons format I use for the first-round guys, I am going to be doing something different for the second-rounders. My thoughts on second-rounders start first and foremost with identifying a skill that will put them in an NBA rotation as soon as possible. From the shooting of Malcolm Brogdon to the point guard skills of Monte Morris to this past year and defensive standout Herb Jones, the most successful second-round guys have something that can be immediately identifiable as a legit NBA skill.

And no, I am not going to say this guy is the next Joker, Manu, or Isaiah Thomas. Those guys are incredibly exceptional in more ways than one. But even in their cases, they had a SKILL that got them selected and initial was what their teams wanted to develop. So, when previewing these second-round prospects, I will immediately start with their identifiable NBA skill along with a comp for the kind of role and development they could see that would immediately get them on an NBA roster and possibly even in the rotation.

*Little author’s not here. I use stats and visuals from Sports-Reference and CBB Analytics while Bryce Simon uses InStat, so sometimes we may give different counting stats or percentages so just be aware we are analyzing different data sets.

Let’s get started!

The Case for David Roddy

David Roddy’s been on NBA Draft radar for a while now, so he may actually not last until 46, because he is a good shooter first and foremost. This past season at Colorado State, Roddy shot 43.8% on 3.4 attempts per game from 3-point range. Couple this with his 6-foot-6, 260 pounds, and 6-foot-11.5 wingspan and a name like Grant Williams immediately springs to mind.

If you are unfamiliar with Grant Williams, he is currently on this year’s Boston Celtics team who made it to the NBA Finals—and he was a big part of the reason why. Shooting 40.5% these playoffs on 4.2 attempts per game (going 7-for-18 from long range in game 7 against the Bucks to help seal the win), Williams’ floor spacing has given his teammates way more room to operate than in previous playoff runs. Throw in the fact he played some tough defense on the likes of Giannis and you see a highly impactful role player.

I believe Roddy can fit this same mold of player as he shares Williams’ height but has 24 extra pounds on Grant. He’s also a mismatch with the skills he possesses at that size. Colorado State deployed him in a variety of ways: posting up, off the bounce, running DHOs. Even Sports Reference’s College Basketball site doesn’t know what to do with him as they have him listed at guard.

To give you a better idea of what his overall game is like, let’s go to our very own Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops to give you a breakdown of David Roddy’s game:

As Bryce starts with, Roddy is going to make an impact in pick and pop situations right off the bat. Although this is the first year where Roddy shot over 27.8% from three, it is a positive indicator that he took more threes this year (105) than in any previous year before. I also think the TYPE of three-point shot he will be most called upon to do in the NBA is catch-and-shoot—where Bryce shows he was 40% and scored 1.13 points per possession.

The area where Bryce and I differ when it comes to Roddy is on the defensive side of the ball. While I am not going to say Roddy is a good shot blocker, I do think he is a good shot-stopper in the post. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s go back to some film here against fellow 2022 NBA Draft Prospect Orlando Robinson.

To give you the tale of the tape, Robinson posted the following measurements at the NBA Draft Combine: 6-foot-11, 244 pounds with a 9-foot-3 standing reach and a 7-foot-4 wingspan. Pay attention to No. 10 on Fresno and No. 21 on Colorado State and notice the difference when ANYBODY OTHER THAN RODDY is guarding Robinson.

Bryce is right that Roddy does not have the elevation to get up there and swat shots, but what he does have is core strength and a barrel chest that he puts into bigger and longer defenders to stop their shot. You will notice Robinson has a noticeable harder time establishing positioning on Roddy and really Robinson does his most damage on Roddy when it comes to second jumps off of missed shots. This reminds me of another undersized big man in PJ Tucker who does similar work down low.

Oh, and before you go looking, Tucker blocked a total of 23 shots in three years at Texas; Roddy had 33 this year alone. BUT, like Tucker and Grant Williams, I think Roddy will need time to develop into this role. Unlike Williams and Tucker, however, I think Roddy comes in more equipped as a shooter but less experienced at being a big man on both ends of the court. On offense, in particular, the reason sports-reference has him as a guard is because he did have the ball in his hands a lot and was asked to create a huge amount of Colorado State’s offense.

And as Bryce showed, the mid-post stuff Roddy did so much for the Rams will be almost completely wiped from his game in the NBA. But again, this is similar to Williams who operated a ton with his back to the basket in college and did operate as Tennessee’s center in certain lineups. Tucker took even longer to develop as he had to leave the NBA and prove himself overseas before coming back and completely re-inventing himself to what we know him as today.

Roddy can still get in there day one and bust some threes AND use his strength and wide frame to give backup big men in the league a major headache. I do think spending a lot of time at the squat rack and working on developing his lower body will go a long way in helping to increase his vertical and help him hold up better against STARTING NBA centers.

This is also something that Williams and Tucker took a minute to work on as well and Roddy has flashed against actual NBA bodies like Robinson (who also does have good skills to be someone I profile as second rounder this month). But even as his game stands now, Roddy profiles similar to Jordan Nwora, Mike Scott, and Dean Wade as that rotation three-point shooting power forward.

We are not asking this guy to attack off the dribble, we are not expecting him to be a defensive centerpiece—he is a second-round prospect for a reason. Even though I love Roddy, I do not think his upside is big so if you were more inclined to go after someone like say JD Davison or Michael Foster Jr. I would understand. It mostly has to do with Roddy not being a standout athlete on tape or in testing.

While not a bad athlete by any means, Roddy doesn’t stand out in his movement or verticality. Couple this with playing in a conference looked down upon by some scouts and Roddy will get dinged for his lack of standout athleticism against “inferior” competition.

But again, for me when it comes to looking at these second-round prospects, I AT LEAST want to find an identifiable skill that can keep them in a rotation and that I can point to a handful of guys that have a similar profile to say, “oh yeah David Roddy can be that.” Just look at his shot chart if you still don’t believe me.

Thank you as always for support and engagement here at DBB as we could not do this without any of you! Let us know what you think of David Roddy in the comments and also PLEASE let me know in the comments the 2022 NBA Draft Prospects projected to go in the second round you would like me to cover going forward.