A fluid athlete and effortless shooter, Gradey Dick has the kind of skill set every NBA team can benefit from.
The NBA is a 3-point shooter’s league. There are several factors that contribute to a team’s ability to win games, but broadly speaking, every elite offense happens to align with elite shooting numbers. Winning the championship with shoddy spacing is virtually impossible.
Gradey Dick is one of the best shooters in the 2023 NBA Draft — maybe even the best. He makes it look easy; there’s no wasted movement. You don’t really need to check the stats. Just watch Dick play and it’s not hard to tell that he can scorch the net. Naturally, the numbers do back it up: 40.3 percent on 5.7 attempts per game as a freshman at Kansas.
That alone is enough to get NBA front offices hooked. What makes Dick special, however, is that he’s much more than an elite shooter. He has one of the most polished and well-balanced skill sets you’ll find in a 19-year-old. His ability to contribute in multiple facets of the game while possessing an imminently translatable, elite NBA skill should make him a lottery pick.
Gradey Dick NBA Draft profile
Height: 6-foot-8
Weight: 205 pounds
Birthdate: November 20, 2003
Position: Shooting Guard
Offensive Role: Spacer and secondary playmaker
Defensive Role: Wing defender
Projected Draft Range: 5-14
NBA Draft highlights
Strengths
In case you haven’t picked up on it — Gradey Dick, good shooter. It’s hard to overstate the value of such an efficient volume shooter in today’s game. And he’s not some simple spot-up guy either. Dick can transition from running full-speed off a screen into his jumper with rare effectiveness. He also has some side-steps and step-backs in his bag.
Dick’s offensive repertoire does range beyond the jumper, though. He’s an underrated athlete who can get above the rim, especially in transition. He runs the floor constantly and is always aware of his placement relative to his teammates. He knows when to fill the lane and when to space to the perimeter.
In the halfcourt setting, Dick is a timely cutter and reactive passer. He makes strong reads and is capable of some genuinely impressive passes on the move. He’s not a point guard, mainly because he doesn’t have the necessary burst or craft off the dribble, but he knows how to keep the ball popping.
Dick has great size for his position. Not many movement shooters of his caliber are 6-foot-8. That will also help him offset the physicality of NBA defenses. Dick is a fairly good athlete and he has the ability to hang and finish around the rim, but he’s also rail-thin. If he were a few inches shorter, it might be harder to project certain aspects of his athleticism translating to the next level.
Defense won’t be his calling card at the next level, but Dick is quite smart and he competes hard. And, again, size — we’ve seen plenty of prospects marketed as shooting specialists who can’t fulfill expectations in the NBA because they’re easy targets for the opposing offense. Dick won’t be an All-Defense candidate, but he’s too big to simply pick on.
Weaknesses
Dick knows his place on the court and he competes hard, but he doesn’t necessarily project as a positive defender in the NBA. He’s skinny, which means certain wings (and even guards) will be able to go right through his chest. He can also get caught on screens and he struggles to match up with quicker players in space.
The general projection on Dick is a lottery pick. Well, not every projected lottery pick actually ends up being a lottery pick. A lot of NBA teams, especially in the lottery, place a premium on athleticism. Dick has some vertical pop and he uses his size well offensively, but he’s not nearly explosive enough to consistently generate his own offense. Some younger teams might prefer to swing for the upside-laden playmakers, rather than settling for a player who is more complementary in nature.
While there are countless examples of Dick making an impressive hanging layup and contorting his body for tough finishes inside, there are also examples of him simply getting stonewalled halfway to the rim. How frequently can he beat closeouts and collapse the defense to maximize his aforementioned passing chops? Also, Dick’s lack of strength could be a problem when more physical defenders invade his airspace and compromise his ball security.
Conclusion
Dick feels like one of the safest bets in the lottery. He’s going to provide some measure of offensive value based on the shooting and basketball I.Q. alone. Whether he can ever ascend to stardom is another question, but outside the top-5, stardom is generally a risky bet for any prospect. There’s value in players with clearly translatable skills and highly polished approaches. Dick plays much wiser than his age.
He doesn’t make the bursty highlight-reel plays that define many of his 2023 draft peers, but Dick should excite a number of prospective fanbases in the lead-up to June. A lot of lottery teams would benefit from the connective tissue Dick supplies. He spaces the floor, processes the game quickly, and makes life easier for teammates. Teams with established lead playmakers and franchise cornerstones would be very wise to look Dick’s way.
Dick feels like the kind of surefire pro who we will look back on five years from now and ask, why wasn’t he picked five spots higher? Betting on upside can be vague and misleading. Athleticism doesn’t always translate to winning; it’s important for prospects to know how to play. Dick knows how to play.