Atlanta Hawks: 7 Best Guards to Prioritize in Free Agency
By Chris Guest
Delon Wright
It might surprise you that Delon Wright of the Memphis Grizzlies (formerly of the Toronto Raptors) is already 27 years old. He was already 23 years old when he was drafted out of the University of Utah, however, and he has already played four seasons in the NBA – so yeah, that adds up.
Though Wright was an important part of the brilliant bench unit for the Raptors in 2017-18, the team put forth a different look in 2018-19 that featured the two-headed monster of Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam with glue guy extraordinaire Kyle Lowry plugging the gaps elsewhere.
Wright was superfluous and, as such, he was traded as part of the Marc Gasol deal ahead of February’s trade deadline.
After the trade took place, Wright’s numbers took off, and he produced career-highs in player efficiency rating, defensive rebound rate, total rebound rate, assist rate and usage rate during his 26-game tenure with the Grizz.
Though Wright has never been a terrific shooter, his strength lies in using his wiry frame to knife his way to the lane for easy attempts at the rim. His good length allows him to finish over and around defenders in the paint.
Per Cleaning the Glass, that penchant for rim finishing bore itself out during Wright’s Grizzlies tenure: 50 percent of Wright’s shots came at the rim, which was in the 93rd percentile among guards – tops on the team. Wright was also an excellent finisher at the rim with a 62 percent clip landing in the 79th percentile.
That combination of at-rim volume and efficiency, combined with a career-high assist rate belies a player that would make sense as a change-of-pace, proven backup point guard to Trae Young on the Atlanta Hawks.