Deyonta Davis didn’t do much in his first year with the Memphis Grizzlies. This season, he is finally looking like he could be a solid player someday.
Many mock drafts had Deyonta Davis being selected in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. The tenacious rebounder and raw post player seemed appealing in a top-heavy draft, and it seemed inevitable that Davis would be gone by the time the 31st pick came around. But he wasn’t gone and the Memphis Grizzlies, devoid of a first round pick themselves, traded to get the 31st pick and select Davis thanks to his potential.
Davis didn’t do much of anything his rookie season. He only played a total of 238 minutes and outside of a solid 9.3 percent offensive rebounding rate, didn’t show any particular promise. Davis only shot 63.3 percent around the rim (0-3 feet out), a rough number for a big man, and his defense was rough; he committed a foul once for every six minutes he played.
The Memphis Grizzlies seemed to not believe in Davis too much heading into this season, as they drafted Ivan Rabb to be their new young big. In their first 15 games, Davis played a total of just 17 minutes. He was hardly in the rotation, and he wasn’t contributing much when given the chance.
But something finally clicked for the Michigan State product when the calendar turned to February. He dropped in 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in just 15 minutes, and J.B. Bickerstaff saw something he liked that night.
For all Grizz games up through the end of January, Davis was getting around 12.5 minutes per game. Since that game on Feb. 1 in Detroit, Deyonta is playing 17.8 minutes per game, and he is making the most of the opportunity to play more.
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In that same span, Davis is scoring 6.9 points per game while pulling down 4.4 rebounds and blocking 0.5 shots. He’s showing the front office he can do a bit of everything, but the most important portion of his stat sheet is that he is finishing 61.9 percent of his shots since the start of February. That is an extremely nice percentage for anyone, and Davis doing it on over five shot attempts per game shows he is starting to figure something out.
How is he doing it? Around the rim, mostly. Remember that yucky shooting percentage around the rim from Davis his rookie year? That figure is up to 75.6 percent, a great number for any big man. For reference, one of the best finishers in the league, DeAndre Jordan, is shooting just 70.5 percent from this distance.
Davis needs to continue to be this type of player. Finishing like that is elite, and he’s only 21 years old. He’s almost become the Grizzlies’ own version of DeAndre Jordan, as he is learning to finish lobs around the rim:
If Davis can be that skilled of a finisher long-term, maybe the front office won’t beat themselves up so much for trading away a 2019 first round pick for him (and Rade Zagorac).
Defensively, Davis is still young and learning to keep up with the game. This end of the floor is where he can make the biggest improvements. His instincts and bounce are excellent:
Davis still has a ways to go; he can’t keep up with the game quite yet, shown in the fact that he has three times more fouls than blocks.
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If the defense comes though, Davis could actually be a solid player for Memphis. He is figuring it all out, and he’s doing it fast. The Grizzlies will be happy that they were patient with Deyonta Davis and gave him a second chance, as he looks like he could be a player someday.