On Moses Moody proving he’s ready to move up — by literally moving around

A marked improvement in offensive skillset, coupled by defensive leaps, will make it hard for Steve Kerr not to consider him as a rotation piece.

After the Golden State Warriors’ 111-97 preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach Steve Kerr had nothing but good things to say about Moses Moody — and possibly portended a much bigger role for the incoming fourth-year swingman (but also staying quite vague and noncommittal by saying a lot of other guys might also receive the same privilege).

“He’s gotten so much better in so many ways. We’ve always loved his character, his work ethic. But I think it’s the most confidence he’s played with. He’s going to play a big role for us, but so are a lot of other guys. We’re sitting in that coaches’ room every day saying, ‘How do we play all these guys?’ Because they all deserve to play. I’ve asked all of them to play their hardest, make it difficult for us (coaches), and they’re all doing that.”

The curious case of Moody has been a story played out over the course of his three full years in the NBA. Flashes of his potential have both gone under the radar and have been as loud as a fireworks display on the Fourth of July. Opinions on him have swayed — from being a promising rotation player who isn’t quite there yet, to a bona fide toolsy wing who can play both ends of the floor.

Entering his fourth year, reports of Moody being one of — if not the hardest — workers in training camp surfaced. His work ethic has seemingly rivaled that of Stephen Curry’s on the team, perhaps fueled by both a sense of urgency and a desire to prove doubters wrong. Along with draft classmate and teammate Jonathan Kuminga, Moody hasn’t been given a rookie contract extension. The Warriors have until October 21 to offer him one, but there haven’t been any indication of them pulling the trigger.

From a salary cap standpoint, their reluctance is understandable. The team would want to see just how much Moody has improved before committing him into their cap space. Despite downplaying the contract talks, it’s quite difficult to believe that that sliver of doubt is creeping into Moody’s thoughts. It’s well within his rights to prove that doubt wrong.

The first fruits of that hard work and eagerness to earn that contract may have come on this series of possessions against the Los Angeles Clippers:

Every skill one would want from a two-way wing — the ability to slide his feet and use his length (7’1” wingspan) to block a shot, the wherewithal to cut into space, and making life difficult for an off-ball assignment by deflecting and stealing a pass — was displayed by Moody above, with the mobility to perform all of the above to boot.

The swing skill — the one trait that was thought to make or break Moody’s fate in the league — is three-point shooting. In limited minutes during his rookie season (11.7), Moody put up 2.1 three-point attempts per game and shot 36.4% on them; he averaged virtually the same number of attempts (2.1) and same percentage (36.3%) during his sophomore campaign (13.0 mins per game). Last season saw a slight increase in minutes (17.5) and three-point volume (3.0), but the percentage stayed largely the same (36.0%).

Being league average in three-point shooting can be a function of playing time — or lack, thereof. On the other hand, Moody’s free-throw percentage of 75.8% could very well indicate that he is destined for nothing more than being an average shooter. But there really was no way to tell other than letting him play — and letting him play loose and free.

Preseason allows for many liberties, including janky lineup combinations, roles that may not necessarily be reflective of how the regular season plays out, and minutes that are dedicated toward evaluating who deserves them and who doesn’t. Moody’s minutes in this preseason build up (20.5) could be fool’s gold — as well as his 43.3% shooting from beyond the arc on a 13-of-30 clip. But the flashes he showed in seasons prior make it difficult to accept such a possibility to be truth.

Not when Moody works as hard as he does — and suddenly adds movement shooting to his repertoire. On a set that blends two actions together — “Quick Touch” and “Away” — Moody comes off a Kevon Looney screen and looks perhaps the most comfortable as he’s ever been as a movement shooter:

The form and release look smooth — way smoother than his already smooth form in years past. When paired with his equally smooth movement around the Looney screen, Moody can make defenders pay dearly, especially if they choose to shoot the gap and go under like Moody’s man did above.

The bare minimum of becoming a decent movement shooter is comfort around screens and maintaining form and release consistency when pulling up. But a whole new level of movement shooting is unlocked when the ability to manipulate one’s defender is achieved. To their credit, the coaching staff has inserted Moody in situations where he’s able to bamboozle his man around one or multiple screens — such as a new baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) set with the play call “One” (as Brandin Podziemski calls out in the clip below).

But despite the tactical help, execution ultimately comes down to the players. And Moody — using “One,” which is a screen into rescreen action (called “Ricky” action in basketball tactics parlance) — executes this particular movement brilliantly:

According to Synergy tracking, Moody’s most frequent play type has consistently been “spot-up” jumpers:

• 2021-22: 45.2% of his play types
• 2022-23: 41.8%
• 2023-24: 38.7%

In five preseason games — which is an extremely small sample size, mind you — that spot-up frequency has gone down to 28.6%. This decrease in spot-up looks has coincided with an increase in off-screen play-type frequency — that is, looks coming off of screens (24.3%). If this was the regular season, that mark would easily blow away his previous three seasons of off-screen play-type frequency:

• 2021-22: 13.8%
• 2022-23: 10.4%
• 2023-24: 9.9%

This increase in the frequency of coming off of screens — coupled by a corresponding increase in three-point shooting success — can catch defenders off-guard, especially if the scouting report still tells them to duck under screening actions for Moody:

It also unlocks Moody as an occasional source of shot creation — not necessarily off the dribble, but as a perpetually moving object in two-man empty-corner actions that involve a handoff/screening partner.

“(Moody)’s kind of grown into his body,” Kerr said. “He looks stronger to me. When he’s putting the ball on the floor people are bouncing off of him. He’s shooting much better off the pindowns, on the move. He’s put all the work in. He’s earned this.”

Of course, the catch-and-shoot spot-up looks will always be there for Moody off of created advantages. And as teams will quickly learn, leaving this version of Moody wide open might be a recipe for disaster:

Should defenses wisen up and close out on the prospect of an open Moody catching the ball on the perimeter, it will open up a brand-new avenue of attack: straight line drives.

Combined with a considerable defensive improvement — watch Moody close out on the perimeter responsibly, showing good angles, flexible hip movement, and overall excellent fundamentals:

This is arguably the readiest Moody has been for a season. Ready for rotation minutes, ready for a non-insignificant role, and ready to prove that he is on the move upward — quite literally by moving around.