Nuggets need mean. CSU Rams star David Roddy wants to be Draymond Green of Gen Z. Could it be match made in NBA Draft Heaven?

The Nuggets need mean. Not thug mean. The smart, skilled, crafty, sneaky and clever kind of mean. The kind of mean that gets away with it.

They need a Draymond Green of their own. A guy who doesn’t just crawl inside another team’s heads. A guy who helps himself to everything in that team’s fridge, kicks the other team’s dog, curls up on that team’s loveseat and won’t leave.

And here’s the cool part: David Roddy, nicest kid on the planet off the court, wants to be that kinda mean.

“I think that’s something that’s intriguing about me, is that I’m willing to do any kind of role,” the former CSU Rams star said Tuesday after completing a pre-NBA Draft workout for the Nuggets at Ball Arena.

“If that’s what (the Nuggets) need, I’ll do it. If I need to just get rebounds like Dennis Rodman, I’ll do it as well. I’m willing to do anything to stay in league.”

The Nuggets need that kind of hunger, too. It’s what the Front Range fell in love with the first time they laid peepers on Bones Hyland and Monte Morris, guys who had to scrap for everything to get where they are and still play like it. It’s what turned Nikola Jokic from a big-boned lottery ticket into the best player on the planet.

“A lot of teams covet people like me,” Roddy noted, comparing himself to the likes of Green, Jae Crowder and P.J. Tucker.

“(Guys) that bring that physicality as well as can knock down shots, can set great screens and do the glue guy and dirty work for the team … I think that’s where I will really thrive, especially in Denver. But position-wise, I would say maybe (I’m) a 3 or 4.”

Maybe. Like Jokic, the 6-foot-5 Roddy is a hoops unicorn, a mess of beautiful basketball contradictions.

A stellar high-school quarterback in the Twin Cities, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year is a willing and underrated passer. He reads the game, and anticipates, the way a point guard can on the fly. He’s got a pair of dancer’s feet beneath a bouncer’s frame. He can bang with the bulk of an NFL tight end (252 pounds) while flashing a feathery, almost careful touch.

Roddy played everywhere from off-guard to center at CSU, defending 1s through 5s. Switching wasn’t the issue. Neither was his acumen on the pick-and-roll, where his mojo as a screener and passer has front offices intrigued.

Ultimately, though, the shot could be what determines his draft stock — and staying power. Roddy spent the bulk of the part of his workout open to media spotting up from beyond the arc. Between his sophomore and junior seasons, the CSU stalwart went from an occasional 3-point threat to a deadly one, upping his trey rate from 27.8% (on 2.57 attempts) in ’20-21 to 43.8% (on 3.39 attempts) this past winter.

“In the NBA, you need to make threes,” Roddy noted. “You need to make open shots.”

You need a role, too. So he’s pitching himself to teams — he’s visited eight already — as a cost-effective version of the Celtics’ Grant Williams. Or Green. And the combine testing numbers compared to the latter — Roddy measured 6-foot-6 with shoes, with a 6-foot-11.5-inch wingspan and 35.5-inch max vertical; Green registered 6-foot-7.5, 7-foot-1.25 and 33 — aren’t that far off.

“He’s unique,” Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said. “He can pass, he can play above the rim, he can score in the post. There’s not much he can’t do on the basketball floor.”

If they’re healthy — and that’s a big “if” — the Nuggets are solid enough offensively. According to NBA.com tracking data, they also ranked 29th out of 30 teams in opponent field-goal percentage within 5 feet of the rim. They were 30th a year ago. The only thing the Joker needs more than shooters is another rim protector nearby. Or two.

“We have similar playing styles, actually,” Roddy said of the two-time NBA MVP. “Cutting hard, catching great passes and just being that glue guy that gets rebounds … will definitely get me on the floor early.”

Yeah, but Dennis Rodman?

“Hey, if I need to be,” Roddy countered.

Can’t see you in a wedding dress, my man.

“No, absolutely not,” Roddy replied, smiling this time. “Or blonde hair.”

Roddy isn’t a ringer for Jerami Grant, Gary Harris or Torrey Craig. But he’s the right kind of mean. The kind of mean that finishes a championship puzzle. The kind of mean that wins.

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