Gradey Dick is driving success (Video Essay)

The case can be made that Gradey Dick is the best driver from his draft class so far – and Samson Folk makes that case with the film & stats.

If I had told you that Gradey Dick wasn’t necessarily going to be a sniper from downtown, but rather an overall offensive weapon, would you have been surprised or skeptical? It’s not as if his physicality suggests that he’s going to be a dominant driver, or that his foot speed and vertical pop suggest it either. What Dick has, is a hunger for the rim and an irrational confidence that he can finish there, that fuels his repeated forays into the paint. Additionally, those forays into the paint are still the best in his draft class.

Currently, Dick is in the top-6 in points off of drives per game from sophomores, and when accounting for his foul frequency and accuracy from the free throw line, he is the most efficient scorer. In that group of players he’s 5th in assists per drive — his pass frequency is comparable to prime Kyrie Irving, which is hilarious and awesome — but he is also the least likely to turn the ball over, and by some margin.

Dick is shooting 43-percent on his spot up threes, which is pretty damn good, and still, it’s statistically much better when he drives the ball against the closeout. His true-shooting percentage when he drives closeouts is around 75-percent! The main reason for all of this, despite Dick shooting below league average from downtown? Shooting gravity isn’t always about percentages, and Dick is selling the NBA on a vision of him as a truly elite shooter that they have to run off the line at any cost. The usual cost? A long closeout that leaves the seas parted behind the defender – and Dick fancies himself as Moses sprinting into the emerging path.

Click the link to watch the video for all this and more!

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