Last Updated on August 12, 2026 by Mat Diekhake
Troy Daniels earned opportunities in the NBA through his outstanding outside shooting, giving teams a reliable scoring option whenever they needed a spark from the perimeter. His path to the league was far from conventional, but his confidence and ability to knock down difficult shots helped him carve out a professional career that lasted for years.
Here is the detailed information about Troy Daniels:
Player Profile
- Full Name: Troy Daniels
- Nationality: American
- Date of Birth: July 15, 1991
- Hometown: Roanoke, Virginia, USA
- Height: 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm)
- Weight: 205 pounds (93 kg)
- Wingspan: 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm)
- Shoe Size: Size 12 (US)
- Jersey Numbers: 30 (Houston Rockets), 30 (Minnesota Timberwolves), 30 (Charlotte Hornets), 30 (Memphis Grizzlies), 30 (Phoenix Suns), 30 (Los Angeles Lakers), 30 (Denver Nuggets)
- Position: Shooting Guard
- High School: William Fleming High School (Roanoke, Virginia)
- College: Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) (2009–2013)
- NBA Draft: Undrafted in 2013
- Teams Played For:
- Houston Rockets (2014)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (2014–2015)
- Charlotte Hornets (2015–2016)
- Memphis Grizzlies (2016–2017)
- Phoenix Suns (2017–2019)
- Los Angeles Lakers (2019–2020)
- Denver Nuggets (2020)
- Championship Rings: 1 (with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020)
- Kids: Daughter named Amiah; stepsons named Ayla and Prince
- Siblings: Information about siblings is not widely documented.
- Retirement Age: 28 years old
- Retirement Year: 2019-20 (with Denver Nuggets)
Player Archetype / Play Style
Troy Daniels fit the archetype of a specialist floor-spacing guard, a 6-foot-4, roughly 200-pound two-guard whose main NBA value came from instant-offense shooting rather than all-around creation. His offensive role was clear: space the floor, sprint into catch-and-shoot looks, punish help defenders and flip momentum with quick three-point bursts, which matches both his college scoring record at VCU and his long pro reputation as a high-volume perimeter marksman. Defensively, he was better suited to a support role on the wing than a stopper assignment, relying on positioning and effort more than size, length or disruptive playmaking. Physically, Daniels had decent guard size and solid balance, but his game was built far more on release speed, shooting confidence and off-ball movement than on power or burst. In simple terms, he played like a microwave shooter: stay ready, move into space, get the shot up fast, and make defenses pay the second they lost sight of him. (Basketball Reference)
Scouting Report
Troy Daniels built his value around one skill, but reducing him to “just a shooter” misses why defenders treated him with so much urgency. The interesting thing is how rarely he stood waiting for the ball. He was constantly relocating after penetration, sprinting off pin-downs, drifting along the baseline when help collapsed, and finding tiny pockets of space that disappeared almost as quickly as they opened. His release was so quick that even decent contests often arrived too late, and that forced defenders to stay attached well beyond the three-point line, stretching the floor in ways that didn’t always show up in the box score. Once he had to put the ball on the deck, though, the equation changed. He could take one or two hard dribbles into a pull-up or attack a reckless closeout, but extended pick-and-roll creation, manipulating weak-side rotations, or consistently creating shots against set defenses wasn’t where he was most comfortable. That’s the trade-off. His offensive impact depended heavily on teammates who could collapse the defense first. Defensively, he understood team concepts well enough to rotate on time and compete through off-ball screens, but stronger wings could dislodge him physically while quicker guards often created separation before help arrived, making him someone opponents tried to involve rather than avoid. To me, the ideal environment for Daniels featured a high-level playmaker running repeated pick-and-rolls, bigs willing to set physical off-ball screens, and an offense that encouraged constant movement instead of stationary spacing. That’s where his shooting became contagious because defenders couldn’t cheat into the lane without risking an immediate three. It’s easy to overlook how much conditioning his role required; maintaining that pace through countless cuts and relocations is different from simply standing beyond the arc waiting for kick-outs. Stylistically, he shared plenty with Anthony Morrow in the way both punished defensive lapses with lightning-fast releases, while parts of his game also echoed Wayne Ellington, another movement shooter whose value came as much from the attention he demanded as the shots he actually took. — Mat Diekhake, HeatingUp
Sources: NBA.com — “Troy Daniels | Guard”; Basketball-Reference — “Troy Daniels Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more”; Basketball-Reference — “2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers Roster and Stats”; VCU Athletics — “Troy Daniels – Men’s Basketball”
