Just under a week away from next Thursday’s 2023 NBA Draft, the mock-draft-industrial complex is starting to reach something resembling a consensus on Gradey Dick.
The 6-foot-8 wing from Wichita, whose shooting prowess and uncommon size helped him rocket up draft boards following just one season at Kansas, looks increasingly likely to go to the Orlando Magic at No. 11 after long being projected as a top-10 pick. CBS Sports, ESPN, SB Nation and Yahoo! Sports are among the outlets connecting Dick to Orlando, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo writing Wednesday that “getting a shooter of Dick’s caliber would be a significant boon for the Magic, who have plenty of opportunity on the wing and need to add as much floor spacing as they can to amplify the strengths of franchise stalwarts (Paolo) Banchero and (Franz) Wagner.”
NBA teams have generally not officially acknowledged their pre-draft workouts for Dick, but internet sleuths have tracked his movements via social media posts to note that he’s recently been in places like Salt Lake City (the Jazz pick at Nos. 9 and 16), Oklahoma City (No. 12) and, as recently as Sunday, Orlando. The Magic do also own the No. 6 pick and could potentially package their pair of first-rounders to move up for one of the this year’s much-ballyhooed top prospects.
The few recent mock drafts to eschew Orlando, such as Bleacher Report’s periodically updated article or the Los Angeles Times’ Wednesday effort, have Dick going to teams he’s apparently visited: at No. 9 to the Jazz and at No. 12 to the Thunder, respectively. Givony and Woo also noted that the Toronto Raptors, at No. 13, intend to work Dick out and are “believed to be a strong suitor.”
The picture is a bit murkier when it comes to Jalen Wilson, Kansas’ other 2023 draft prospect, although the public does conversely have a clearer idea of whom last year’s standout KU small forward worked out for, because teams keep conducting post-workout interviews with him. He spoke to Portland media on June 1, the Los Angeles Lakers tweeted about him the following day, the Golden State Warriors conducted a Zoom press conference with him on June 5 and the Pacers posted a video of him on June 8. Wilson has also said he worked out for the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings.
Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) celebrates a bucket and an Arkansas foul during the first half on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo by Nick Krug
All these teams save the Warriors (who only pick No. 19) have picks in the early or mid-second round, which is where draft experts see Wilson going currently. Projected landing spots include as high as Sacramento (No. 38, ESPN) or Charlotte (No. 39, Yahoo! Sports) and as low as the Clippers (No. 48, Bleacher Report) and Cleveland (No. 49, The Ringer).
“The Cavaliers badly need more wings and though Wilson is an unproven shooter,” The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor wrote, “the rest of his game is largely ready to contribute.”
Wilson has seemingly not worked out for the Hornets — though they did post a video of him from last month’s NBA Draft Combine — or the Cavaliers, and it’s also worth noting that draft-day trades could reshape the entire order by the time the event reaches its second round.
The draft begins Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, at 7 p.m. Central Time.
