2024 NBA Draft Day One GDT

[rapsuperstar31]

"Inch for inch, I believe Kentucky basketball's Rob Dillingham is the most skilled player in this NBA Draft," Fran Fraschilla wrote on social media. "His handle is Kyrie-like, shoots 44% from three and will never be afraid of the big moment. I think he’s going to trend towards Jamal Crawford-Lou Williams status some day."

[Lipoli390]

Again, I withhold judgement on Dillingham as I really didn't study him, but NBA Draftnet had him listed as 24 on their mock which isn't comforting. I know NBADraftnet isn't the best site (but I don't pay for Givony's site), but its probably one of the most popular free draft sites. Where did Givony rank him? TheRinger had Dillingham at 9.

Givony was on Duncd on Pod and called him a 25 ppg scorer if you can live with the defense which will be bad. Says best ball handler in the class, great in pick and roll, hits 45% from deep while taking tough shots.

If he were an inch taller and 20 lbs heavier he'd easily be a top 2 or 3 pick. I'm not too concerned about his height. I mean, hell, Mike Conley and Jordan McLaughlin are shorter! But I am concerned about his weight. The front office must think his frame can take on more weight. Get that man some Popeye's!

LOL. Edwards can help him bulk up. . I do worry about his weight also. And while I’m not concerned about his height or vertical length, I’ll not that his 6’3 wingspan is 2.75 inches less than Mike Conley’s. I think it’s Conley’s wingspan that’s helped make him a decent defender in spite of his 5’11 height and 175 lbs weight coming out of college. So I do wonder about the ability of Dillingham to be playable defensively with his wingspan and feather weight. If you’re looking for a comparable, think Trae Young who has a 6’3 wingspan like Dillingham and was 178 points coming out of college. There aren’t many worse defenders than Trae Young.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Jesus, this is crazy. I mean, I should watch some of his full games to sober up, but watching his highlights really is a blast. No joke, if you squint just a bit you can almost see a bit of Ja, Iverson, Lou Williams, all with Maxey's ability to pull up from 3. Holy cow, this could be fun, at least on offense.

In terms of a future PG, I haven't seen enough to say anything about that, though some of the breakdowns seem wary. He does seem to have pick and roll ability, which is good, though (again, just reviews!) reports on his passing are not quite as strong. I guess you gotta hope that Mike can teach him how to orchestrate an offense somewhat. Having a PG like Conley's been so crucial to unlocking this whole team offensively. We don't want to end up like Phoenix with offensive talents that don't necessarily make each other better.

Then there is the defense, which absolutely would get picked on in the playoffs. I guess the hope there is that if and by the time he'd be getting real playoff minutes, his offense would obviously have to be great enough to play him. Who knows? Mike's been a good defender despite his small size, so it's not impossible.

For now though, he is gonna be exciting to watch. A really electric, jitter-bug scoring type. We had Crawford that one year when he was well past his prime, but other than that, I honestly can't think of any other guy we've had who could make those kinds of plays that really get the crowd going with those kinds of crazy handles and shooting. Nowell had a knack for scoring occasionally but that seemed to be mostly in transition. He couldn't really break guys down in the halfcourt. If Dillingham can learn to pass pretty well, he could theoretically be a good offensive initiator because he will keep defenses honest even at his size with that quickness and those handles.

[Wolvesfan21]

Again, I withhold judgement on Dillingham as I really didn't study him, but NBA Draftnet had him listed as 24 on their mock which isn't comforting. I know NBADraftnet isn't the best site (but I don't pay for Givony's site), but its probably one of the most popular free draft sites. Where did Givony rank him? TheRinger had Dillingham at 9.

Givony was on Duncd on Pod and called him a 25 ppg scorer if you can live with the defense which will be bad. Says best ball handler in the class, great in pick and roll, hits 45% from deep while taking tough shots.

The thing I am thinking is, since we are such a defensive oriented team already. He's going to be forced to up his game on that end. You simply can't play with all the other elite defenders and not man up on defense, it isn't allowed. Now it may take some time for him to learn for sure. But the one thing I see with him is his quickness which can help with his size issues. Quicks can help make up for lack of length. We sure do need another shot creator and bucket getter long term also. I like the pick (though I just did a quick study on him). I'll trust TC on this one. Great trade too. 2031? Eh, who cares. We need young guys now.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Again, I withhold judgement on Dillingham as I really didn't study him, but NBA Draftnet had him listed as 24 on their mock which isn't comforting. I know NBADraftnet isn't the best site (but I don't pay for Givony's site), but its probably one of the most popular free draft sites. Where did Givony rank him? TheRinger had Dillingham at 9.

Givony was on Duncd on Pod and called him a 25 ppg scorer if you can live with the defense which will be bad. Says best ball handler in the class, great in pick and roll, hits 45% from deep while taking tough shots.

I remember that, that was a hilarious moment. They were going through the draft and Nate seemed to be looking for someone he could feel unquestionably excited about but every guy seemed to leave both of them kind of lukewarm, and when Givony was going off about Dillingham's shooting and scoring it all seemed so positive, and then Nate said something like "and the defense?" and Givony immediately replied "oh the defense is going to be terrible" or something like that. If my memory is right, that was the moment. It was pretty funny.

[Lipoli390]

Jesus, this is crazy. I mean, I should watch some of his full games to sober up, but watching his highlights really is a blast. No joke, if you squint just a bit you can almost see a bit of Ja, Iverson, Lou Williams, all with Maxey's ability to pull up from 3. Holy cow, this could be fun, at least on offense.

In terms of a future PG, I haven't seen enough to say anything about that, though some of the breakdowns seem wary. He does seem to have pick and roll ability, which is good, though (again, just reviews!) reports on his passing are not quite as strong. I guess you gotta hope that Mike can teach him how to orchestrate an offense somewhat. Having a PG like Conley's been so crucial to unlocking this whole team offensively. We don't want to end up like Phoenix with offensive talents that don't necessarily make each other better.

Then there is the defense, which absolutely would get picked on in the playoffs. I guess the hope there is that if and by the time he'd be getting real playoff minutes, his offense would obviously have to be great enough to play him. Who knows? Mike's been a good defender despite his small size, so it's not impossible.

For now though, he is gonna be exciting to watch. A really electric, jitter-bug scoring type. We had Crawford that one year when he was well past his prime, but other than that, I honestly can't think of any other guy we've had who could make those kinds of plays that really get the crowd going with those kinds of crazy handles and shooting. Nowell had a knack for scoring occasionally but that seemed to be mostly in transition. He couldn't really break guys down in the halfcourt. If Dillingham can learn to pass pretty well, he could theoretically be a good offensive initiator because he will keep defenses honest even at his size with that quickness and those handles.

Interestingly, his realistic ceiling is Mike Conley.

[Porckchop]

If Dillinghams best chance to reach his potential is on the offensive end, how does that work playing next the teams best player on the perimeter who will take the lions share of the shots. Will he get enough opportunities to offset his likely struggles on the the other end?

[Monster]

If Dillinghams best chance to reach his potential is on the offensive end, how does that work playing next the teams best player on the perimeter who will take the lions share of the shots. Will he get enough opportunities to offset his likely struggles on the the other end?

He shot almost 45% from 3 so if that's at all real that's a big deal. He also will likely play as a bench guy so he will probably play a decent chunk of his minutes alongside guys that aren't really scorers.

[Phenom]

Again, I withhold judgement on Dillingham as I really didn't study him, but NBA Draftnet had him listed as 24 on their mock which isn't comforting. I know NBADraftnet isn't the best site (but I don't pay for Givony's site), but its probably one of the most popular free draft sites. Where did Givony rank him? TheRinger had Dillingham at 9.

Givony was on Duncd on Pod and called him a 25 ppg scorer if you can live with the defense which will be bad. Says best ball handler in the class, great in pick and roll, hits 45% from deep while taking tough shots.

I remember that, that was a hilarious moment. They were going through the draft and Nate seemed to be looking for someone he could feel unquestionably excited about but every guy seemed to leave both of them kind of lukewarm, and when Givony was going off about Dillingham's shooting and scoring it all seemed so positive, and then Nate said something like "and the defense?" and Givony immediately replied "oh the defense is going to be terrible" or something like that. If my memory is right, that was the moment. It was pretty funny.

Yes that was it. I think the line of thinking is pumping up the offense in spots at what would expense the defense. The Dillingham we hope to get will make this team more situationally versatile.

[Phenom]

If Dillinghams best chance to reach his potential is on the offensive end, how does that work playing next the teams best player on the perimeter who will take the lions share of the shots. Will he get enough opportunities to offset his likely struggles on the the other end?

There were many instances last year where Ant needed someone to take the ball and take the attention of the defense.