The Memphis Grizzlies have signed Xavier Rathan-Mayes to a 10-day contract. Let’s look at who he is and what he can do.
Recently, we discussed who seemed to be good candidates for the Memphis Grizzlies to sign to a 10-day contract. The basis was that the Grizzlies should sign someone young and talented who could be a rotation player at some point in the future.
They sort of did just that, signing Xavier Rathan-Mayes of the Westchester Knicks to a 10-day contract, per Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Rathan-Mayes fits the criteria of a guy that was described in our 10-day contract candidates piece, but the optics all changed recently for Memphis.
Mike Conley has been out all season, but recently Tyreke Evans, Andrew Harrison and Mario Chalmers have all also suffered an injury, making the Grizzlies’ guard depth essentially non-existent. To kill two birds with one stone, the front office chose to sign Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who is young and fills a position of current need.
Rathan-Mayes is a rookie in his first year as a pro after not being drafted in 2017. Last season, he played basketball for Florida State University. He has spent this season playing for the New York Knicks’ G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.
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In Westchester, he has been given every opportunity to shine, playing over 35 minutes per game on the year. What he has done in this those has been very impressive for any player in the G League, but especially a rookie. His averages so far are 16.6 points, 7.1 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game
That is one hell of a stat sheet. Rathan-Mayes can clearly get himself involved in all aspects of the game, and he can do so fairly efficiently. He is shooting 47.3 percent from 2-point range, 34.3 percent from deep and 61.4 percent from the free throw line.
You can look at those percentages in one of two ways. They aren’t bad, but they definitely aren’t great. To be totally honest, they are fine for someone with his age and experience level. On the bright side, he did all that without ever having an NBA shooting coach, so there is a reason to believe he could be an even better shooter in the pros.
Who exactly is Xavier Rathan-Mayes? He is a combo guard who, according to DraftExpress:
"“He uses ball screens well, setting up his opponent with some misdirection to run him into the screen and then using changes of speeds to beat the help defense once he gets into the paint. He has solid size for a combo guard, listed at 6’4″, which helps him around the rim, as he converts 55% of his half-court shots attempts inside the paint according to Synergy Sports Technology. He doesn’t have high-level explosiveness, but he is able to find open shots at the rim either through his change of pace or avoiding the defender when they try to block his shot.”"
What I took from that paragraph is that he is crafty. After watching clips of Rathan-Mayes, I can confirm he is indeed crafty:
The Memphis Grizzlies could use exactly that kind of player. He could help improve on their 27th ranked assist per game totals while also giving them a finisher around the basket.
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Rathan-Mayes will help the Grizzlies have youth in the pipeline while also giving them guard depth they desperately need. Let’s see what he brings to the table.