Kyle Anderson’s career-best start embodies the starless team’s problem, writes Mark Giannotto.
Kyle Anderson got labeled a bad shooter in the NBA because the statistics said he was a bad shooter in the NBA. Because he never hit more than 24 3-pointers in a single year, and only once shot better than 33.3% from beyond the arc during seven seasons in the NBA.
At the very least, he was a bad shooter in the NBA.
And that distinction bothered him. Still does, really.
“If people watch my high school highlights, I could always shoot the ball,” Anderson said in an interview with The Commercial Appeal this week. “I've been playing this game since I was 3 years old. I can make a wide open shot.”
His refusal to accept the depiction of his game offers an interesting window into what the Grizzlies are going through at the moment with their two franchise cornerstones (Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.) and a third expected starter (Justise Winslow) all sidelined by injuries early on this season.
In their place is a group of role players who may not be here a few years from now, when the Grizzlies expect to be a Western Conference contender, and they're attempting to fill the void by assuming bigger roles than their pedigree suggests they're capable of filling.
It's why wins are hard to come, and why the Grizzlies are likely to struggle so long as Morant, Jackson and Winslow are out. But it's also why these games carry meaning, and why any discussion about Memphis positioning itself for an exciting 2021 NBA Draft pick feels premature.
This was always going to be a transitional season in Memphis, even if Morant and Jackson were healthy. It is a season to
figure out what else the Grizzlies need around Morant and Jackson, ahead of upcoming offseasons in which Memphis has cap space and draft assets that will hopefully be used to perfect the nucleus with which the organization moves forward.
Most everyone feels reasonably confident that Morant and Jackson will further evolve as players. But what about everyone else around them? Are Brandon Clarke, Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks and De'anthony Melton, all 24 years old or younger, done developing? Is what they are now what they will be the rest of their NBA careers?
Is Jonas Valanciunas always going to be an efficient post presence and rebounder who's a liability on defense? Are Grayson Allen or John Konchar good enough to be long-term fixtures?
This season is about defining those answers better. And Anderson, the player known as “Slo Mo,” embodies these questions better than anyone.
Because he believes his reputation as a poor shooter is the result of a shoulder injury.
Because his reasonable contract means the Grizzlies eventually must decide whether he's part of their future, or whether he's trade bait.
Because he's never had elite athleticism, and always overcome it with a funky style, dependent on his long arms and long strides, awkward-looking angles and awkward-looking floaters, and point guard sensibilities despite standing 6-foot-9.
He was always told he'd have trouble at the next level, whether he was going from middle school to high school, high school to college at UCLA, and then UCLA to the NBA.
“Somehow,” Anderson said, “I make it work.”
So when his shot stopped working, it ate at him.
He had his two most accurate seasons as a 3-point shooter during his final two years in San Antonio, when the Spurs altered the "slingshot" shooting motion Anderson said he had in high school and college to give him a quicker release.
The Grizzlies then signed him to a fouryear, $37 million offer sheet the Spurs did not match ahead of the 2018-19 season.
Around that time, however, Anderson's right shoulder was hurting. It hurt throughout his first season in Memphis, and his shot developed a hitch compensating for the pain. He had thoracic outlet decompression surgery in April 2019.
According to Anderson, doctors removed his top rib to allow the nerves to flow more freely from his neck to his right hand.
“It just had me real messed up, so I had to change my game into more slasher, more getting to the rim,” Anderson said. “Whereas my whole career, if you left me open, I'd be able to knock down an open shot.”
Last year, Anderson began to remake that shot with Bob Thate. He's a former Grizzlies shooting coach under former coach David Fizdale who is credited with helping Jason Kidd and Blake Griffin, among others, become more reliable 3point shooters later in their careers.
For two or three months, Anderson didn't attempt a shot beyond 15 feet. Drills included shooting after jumping multiple times in a row off one foot, and shooting with a ridiculously high arc. Anderson said it was like starting over, trying to connect the muscle memory to his brain.
After Friday's game against Brooklyn, Anderson is averaging more points (14.1), rebounds (7.4) and assists (3.6) than at any point in his NBA career. He's on pace to hit and take nearly five times as many 3-pointers as last year, when he set career highs in coach Taylor Jenkins' “Let it fly” offense.
“Honestly, within myself, I'm a little upset,” Anderson said. “I feel like I could have been doing this in this league, but I put a lot of work in and finally proving to myself that I can do it.”
But Anderson is also shooting just 30% from 3-point range again, and just 41.6% from the field through eight games.
It suggests he is being asked to do more than maybe he should be.
It suggests there's more to prove if he wants to be more than what everyone assumed.
Just like it is for all of these Grizzlies, as they attempt to stay afloat and prepare for brighter days hopefully ahead.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto