The following is part of Raptors Republic’s series of pieces previewing the season for the Toronto Raptors. You can find all the pieces in the series here.
David Roddy is a Fred VanVleet look-a-like, and there’s some similarities at first glance. They both have an underdog story, and got to the NBA from a mid-major, though Roddy was actually drafted – ahead of Christian Koloko and Andrew Nembhard, and right after Walker Kessler in the 2022 NBA Draft (Roddy was the first Colorado State University player drafted into the NBA in nine years).
“Big Body Roddy” is a 6-foot-4 jack-of-all-trades positionless player with a 6’11’’ wingspan. He’s played on five teams in three NBA seasons, and is still trying to find his footing in The Association. Though he’s built like he’s trying out for the Argonauts, the chances of him cracking the Raptors roster is even slimmer than Olivier Sarr’s.
As his nickname suggests, he uses his body to his utmost advantage. Based on the modest amount of film I’ve watched, he defends with his chest, matching better players’ physicality by standing his ground (he’s defended Luka, Tatum, KD, and Scottie B to name a few), and avoids fouling. This helps with his perimeter defence too.
He does a splendid job guarding Scottie Barnes on the ball, going under Olynyk’s screen, and continuing to shuffle his feet while walling Scottie up. When Scottie got downhill at the end of the first quarter, Roddy stayed in front of him and avoided fouling.
As mentioned in No Ceilings, Roddy’s defensive closeouts, however, seem to be poor since college. This first one is god-awful. Here’s another closeout on Scottie that was pretty bad – being overly eager on defence can cause easy blow-bys – though it didn’t result in a shot made.
Offensively, if (and that’s a big IF) he can be a three-point threat, that could help his chances of finding a home here. But the last time he was a consistent 3-point threat was in his last year of college. As a rookie, he hit two 3s on LeBron in Memphis’ First Round Game 2 playoff game and another one in Game 4. He may have only shot 30% from downtown in that 2023 playoff series, but he’ll be coming to training camp with valuable, high-stakes reps already under his belt.
And he’s also developed a reputation for being able to attack the basket – and that helps him playmake. Here’s an example from his time in Hotlanta. Roddy set a screen on Jrue Holiday as he guarded Trey Young. Roddy rolled, got the ball, and drew Al Horford and Xavier Tillman to collapse on him, and dumped a pass off to Clint Capela as he cut to the rim.
Being a passable 3-And-D maybe the highest ceiling for Roddy. If he is to play his fourth NBA season, he’ll have to prove himself, yet again. Will he be able to hit 3s? Will be a reliable defender in a switch-heavy Raptors’ defence? Will he even see an NBA court?
He’s very much a toss-up, but be sure to keep an eye out for him this pre-season.
