The following is part of Raptors Republic’s series of pieces reviewing the season for the Toronto Raptors. You can find all the pieces in the series here.
This past season Jared Rhoden left the Raptors organization, came back, set both an NBA and G League career-high in points, signed a two-year two-way contract, and had shoulder surgery.
It was a tremendously tumultuous course of events for the third-year wing, full of high peaks and low valleys. That is life as a fringe NBA player though, and Rhoden has learned used the ups and downs as fuel.
“It was definitely emotionally tough dealing with an injury, going back to the same organization that you came back from,” Rhoden told me in April. “And it was kind of a moment to test myself and say, okay, this is probably the toughest point of my career. My back is against the wall. And it was kind of like I would wake up and I would smile about it. And it was one of those things where like I had to ask myself ‘am I gonna allow this adversity to bring me down?’ Or can I use this as a slingshot and propel myself to shine and be a star and just elevate myself.”
I wrote a feature chronicling Rhoden’s time in Toronto so far and his outlook moving into the upcoming season. So, I’m not going to focus too much on who he is and his journey here. Instead, this will specifically look at his game: How what he showed in the G League could translate to the NBA and what we saw during his 10-game stint with the Raptors.
The jumping off point has to be the defence. It has been acknowledged by Raptors 905 coach Drew Jones, Raptors coach Darko Rajaković and Rhoden as his standout skill. His six-foot-11 wingspan, fervent activity and instinctual reads on that end of the floor make him a strong defender both on and off the ball. With the 905 this past season he often took the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s best player, holding two of the league’s top scorers – Mac McClung and JD Davison – to well below their averages on poor efficiency. All these attributes also make Rhoden an impactful help defender, where he is often able to either make plays or slow down offence with well-timed digs and gap help. He averaged 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks in the G this past season and 0.9 steals in 21.5 minutes during his time with the Raptors. Rhoden’s combination of length, strength and athleticism also make him an effective defender in most matchups one-through-four.
To get a small window into his defensive approach, here’s a quote from Rhoden on his mindset when it comes to guarding:
“Just that hunger for wanting to stop the person in front of me or stop the team in front of me,” Rhoden said. “I feel like defence is more of like a willpower or mind game more than anything else, you know? You’re not gonna beat me. You’re not going to get in front of me. And that’s just kind of my mentality just on an approach level of life in general.”
And I would be remiss not to mention that Rhoden rebounds very well on both ends for his position and size. Board man gets paid.
Should an opportunity on the depth chart arise either via trades or injury, Rhoden’s defence will be his ticket to NBA minutes. But this isn’t football – everybody has to play offence.
At the NBA level he showed an ability to finish plays in a variety of ways: In transition, as a spot-up shooter, with savvy cuts and on drives. He even showed brief hints of on-ball creation. While Rajaković gave Rhoden opportunities as a pick n’ roll ball handler last season and lauded his ability to “find solutions in the paint,” it was during exceptional (tanking) circumstances. The play finishing stuff would likely be the extent of Rhoden’s expectations were he thrust into an NBA role. All the indicators point to him being able to deliver there capably.
Rhoden has the right mixture of vertical pop and touch to be an effective finisher at the rim. Like a scavenger in the wild, he won’t hesitate to feast when served up a diet of easy transition looks and basket cuts. He is a very strong cutter as well, showing a tremendous feel for movement both in the G League and NBA, a skill that fits particularly well alongside the likes of Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl.
While he has shot only 32.2 percent on 90 career NBA 3-point attempts, he’s at 39.9 percent on 571 career G League attempts. While it doesn’t guarantee anything, it is a much larger sample, closer to the 750 mark that is generally agreed upon by analytically inclined folks as the point 3-point percentage normalizes. It also stands to reason that Rhoden’s triples will be easier in the NBA. Instead of having to create for himself or rely on G League guards, passes will be delivered by advantage-assist master Barnes and other capable playmakers in the Raptors “assist farm” offence that generates some of the highest quality of shots in the NBA (and doesn’t make them). Most of his volume will also likely be shifted to easier catch-and-shoot looks and corner shots and away from more difficult pull-ups and above-the-break 3s. Nine of Rhoden’s 12 made triples with the Raptors this season were catch-and-shoots from the corner.
With the 905, Rhoden was an offensive juggernaut; able to score from all three levels. He drove to the rim relentlessly and without fear, finishing there at a high rate. He also appeared comfortable navigating into the eye of the storm – the middle of the floor that is oh so valuable. From there Rhoden was able to calmly get to a middy pull-up with reasonable effectiveness and even showed the ability to make some sound playmaking reads.
I wouldn’t necessarily expect this part of Rhoden’s game to show up in the event he gets minutes with the Raptors this season. It’s improbable he gets the same opportunity to showcase these skills that he did last season given that Toronto is ready to compete again. But alternatively, all kinds of crazy things happen over the course of a season, even over the course of a single basketball game. You never know what kind of situation you’ll end up in as a player and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have another tool in the belt.
With the high floor his defence provides and proficiency in so many other facets of the game, it’s easy to see Rhoden fitting into an NBA rotation in a pinch. Players who can guard multiple positions well, shoot 3s and finish at the rim have value. The classic G League rags to NBA riches example Alex Caruso once compared players entering the league to “going into a job interview thinking you’re going to be the CFO of the company and they’re looking for a guy to clean the bathrooms,” on JJ Redick’s Old Man and The Three podcast.
Given that Rhoden is a multitool of a hooper, he’s a good fit to do whatever dirty work is necessary. He’s also shown an awareness of this role, saying after his career-high 25-point night against the 76ers that “he’s ready to do all the intangible things.”
It’s quite possible that next season is as much of a rollercoaster as last season was for Rhoden. After all that’s the nature of a two-way NBA contract. It’s also quite possible that he’s yet to reach his peak at basketball’s highest level.
