NBA Mock Draft: Thunder Add Shooting, Basketball IQ in 2023

The college basketball season is headed towards the postseason, which means draft eligible players are making final pushes to raise their stock.

The chances Oklahoma City lands a top-5 pick in this year’s NBA Draft are slim, but the team could still find themselves in the lottery and in position to grab a crucial piece to their rebuild.

As the college basketball season nears conference tournaments and March Madness, NBA Draft talk is ramping up and players are making final pushes to up their stock.

On Feb. 13, CBS released a mock draft with the Thunder drafting Gradey Dick tenth overall.

Dick, a freshman from Wichita, plays his college ball at Kansas and is in the midst of a huge freshman campaign. He’s a small forward listed at 6-foot-8 and 205-pounds and can stretch the floor and score at all levels.

In one of the deepest conferences in college basketball, Dick has been one of the best players on a Kansas team with hopes to win back-to-back National Championships. This season Dick is second on the Jayhawks averaging 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Dick has shown his impressive offensive skill set this season, especially from beyond the arc: an area OKC still needs to work to improve. He currently holds a mark above 40 percent from 3-point range this season.

OKC’s biggest needs come outside of the guard position and Dick fits the mold of a three in the NBA with his length. Dick could have an immediate impact on an OKC team that has placed an increased interest in producing more offense and better 3-point shooting this season.

Dick isn’t the best athlete in the 2023 class, but his floor-spacing ability and his ability to create space for his shot raises his ceiling significantly.

His role as a secondary scorer at Kansas would mesh well with a role he could see if he ends up with the Thunder, which would help the transition and chemistry should he earn his spot.

There’s still plenty of time before the NBA Draft, but Dick’s mix of shooting and knowledge of the game makes him a viable prospect on the OKC draft board. 

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