{"id":179953,"date":"2026-03-04T21:29:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=179953"},"modified":"2026-03-04T21:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:29:52","slug":"2022-first-rounder-and-2023-second-round-selection-among-several-players-to-find-nba-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/04\/2022-first-rounder-and-2023-second-round-selection-among-several-players-to-find-nba-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 First Rounder and 2023 Second Round Selection Among Several Players To Find NBA Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two recent NBA draft picks<\/a> have found new NBA <\/a>homes as the deadline looms.<\/p>\n

With the deadline today for NBA teams to sign players to two-way deals, 2022 first-round pick Dave Roddy<\/a> has landed with the Denver Nuggets<\/a>. Meanwhile, 2023 second-round selection Rayan Rupert<\/a> inked deal with the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>. Both teams entered the day with a full 18-man roster.<\/p>\n

According to Michael Scotto of HoopHype<\/a>, Denver decided to waive Tamar Bates<\/a> — out for the season with a foot fracture<\/a> — in order to sign the veteran Roddy.\u00a0 Roddy, who has 168 games of NBA experience, has spent the entire season with the G-League’s<\/a> Raptors 905 though he is also part of the USA national team World Cup qualifying team<\/p>\n

“The Denver Nuggets plan to sign David Roddy to a two-way deal, league sources told <\/span>hoopshype,” Scotto tweeted. “<\/span>Roddy has averaged 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds over three NBA seasons combined with the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Houston Rockets.”<\/span><\/p>\n

2022 First Rounder and 2023 Second Round Selection Among Several Players To Find NBA Homes<\/h2>\n

Roddy has shown that he is a Triple-A-plus player, using MLB’s terms for a borderline NBA player, in his G League stints. The 24-year-old has also proven to be a solid NBA role player, though his efficiency hasn’t been up to snuff. He averages 1.1 points per shot and 49.4% effective field goal percentage.<\/p>\n

Roddy is a 6-4, 255\u2011pound small\u2011ball forward whose game blends power, touch, play-making and agility. Roddy has played well this year with the Raptors 905 and USA Basketball, where he compiled 28 points on 75% shooting from the field and seven threes in two games for the Americans against the Dominican Republic and Mexico. He averaged 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists with four double-doubles in 35 games for Toronto’s affiliate. Additionally, he made 1.2 threes while compiling shooting splits of 47.6\/38.6\/69.<\/p>\n

Roddy, eligible to be active in 11 NBA games, makes sense for the Nuggets as the team values strong, multi\u2011positional defenders and high\u2011IQ role players.\u00a0 The Nuggets sits fifth in the West at 38-24 as they have several players dealing with injuries. However, Peyton Watson<\/a>, Spencer Jones,<\/a> Cameron Johnson<\/a> and Aaron Gordon<\/a> are expected to be back soon.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Geoff Burke, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Grizzlies Sign Rayan Rupert To Minor League Deal<\/h3>\n

Shortly after Denver announced Roddy’s signing, Memphis inked Rupert to a two-way deal<\/a>. Rupert was waived by the Portland Trail Blazers on February 20 though the Grizzlies quickly snatched him up, signing a 10-day deal on February 22. The 21-year-old, selected by the Blazers with the No. 43 pick in 2023, played well during this short stint with the team.<\/p>\n

In five games, Rupert averaged 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steal — all of which would be career highs if he averaged them for a season. Rupert knocked down 1.2 threes with shooting splits of 45.2\/ 35.2\/ 80. He also scored in double-figures three times.<\/p>\n

Rupert, who has appeared in 139 career NBA games, will be eligible to appear in 11 games for the Grizzlies going forward. He is the exact archetype Memphis has been trying to find since losing Dillon Brooks<\/a>, which is a long, defensive\u2011first wing who can survive offensively.<\/p>\n

The lenghthy 6-8 wing is very active and disruptive on the defensive end. Rupert brings energy when he steps on the floor and doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He is capable of guarding all three backcourt positions.<\/p>\n

While the Grizzlies didn’t begin the day with an open two-way spot, they did have an available standard contract spot due to the expiration of Rupert’s 10-day pact. The Grizzlies promoted Olivier-Maxence Prosper<\/a> to the 15-man roster thus allowing them to sign Rupert to a minor league deal.<\/p>\n

Prosper has played extremely well for Memphis this year and was five games from being ineligible to play another NBA game. In 36 appearances, the 23-year-old defensive-oriented forward averages 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 53.9% shooting from the field and 38.9% from the 3-point line.<\/p>\n

Prosper\u00a0 received a two-year deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pelicans Become Last Team To Finalize 18-Man Roster<\/h2>\n
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The New Orleans Pelicans entered the day as one of three teams with an open roster spot. However, the Pelicans will indeed finish the season with a full complement of players as they inked Josh Oduro<\/a> to a two-way deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Odura has played well for the Birmingham Squadron since going undrafted in 2024 out of Providence. More importantly, Oduro continues to improve as the season progresses.<\/p>\n

Oduro is a 6-9, 240-pound big man who can play either the four or five. Oduro is a physical post player with a polished offensive repertoire and a high basketball IQ.\u00a0 He has a deep offensive bag as he can score with his back-to-the-basket and facing up.\u00a0 He has a soft touch around the run and can score off of spins, counters, as well as hook shots, while also showing improvement with his range. In addition, he is a solid rim-protector, passer, and screener.<\/p>\n

However, Oduro is not an elite athlete as he plays below the rim. Oduro also has difficulty with lengthy centers and is a good but not great rebounder. He also doesn’t move laterally very well.<\/p>\n

Oduro averages 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 29 minutes over 35 appearances. The 25-year-old has compiled 10 double-doubles with shooting splits of 56.3\/29.7\/63.6.<\/p>\n

Oduro fills the Pelicans open minor league spot created by Bryce McGowens<\/a> getting promoted. While Oduro has 11 games of NBA eligibility, he will spend most of the rest season with Birmingham. The Pelicans are completely healthy and they have several bigs, plus, Hunter Dickinson<\/a>, who is also on a two-way deal, is also ahead of him. Trey Alexander<\/a> is the other player on a two-way pact.<\/p>\n

Other Moves<\/h3>\n

Cleveland inked Olivier Sarr<\/a> to a two-way deal earlier today. Sarr, who has not appeared in a NBA game since 2023-24, replaces Darius Brown II<\/a> who was waived yesterday. Brown signed his two-way pact with the Cavs last week and is expected to return to the team’s G-League affialiate.<\/p>\n

Keshon Gilbert<\/a> officially joined the Atlanta Hawks earlier today. The Hawks were one of Cavaliers were the other teams that entered today with less than 18 players on a standard deal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two recent NBA draft picks have found new NBA homes as the deadline looms. With the deadline today for NBA teams to sign players to two-way deals, 2022 first-round pick Dave Roddy has landed with the Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, 2023 second-round selection Rayan Rupert inked deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. Both teams entered the day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":179999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,9,20,2,62,33,3],"tags":[4525,297,1332,4859,4897],"class_list":["post-179953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-cavaliers","category-nuggets","category-featured","category-nba","category-pelicans","category-news","tag-david-roddy","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-g-league","tag-olivier-maxence-prosper","tag-rayan-rupert"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179953"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180001,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179953\/revisions\/180001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}