Kansas’ Gradey Dick outlines how his pre-draft process is going, more during NBA combine

LAWRENCE — Gradey Dick reflected on what it was like to experience the NBA combine for the first time this week, while he was interviewed Thursday on the TV broadcast of the event on ESPN2.

Dick, who’s coming off his freshman year in college playing basketball at Kansas, said he took time to soak it all in. Although he didn’t participate in the scrimmages Wednesday or Thursday, while there in Chicago he did do some testing and drill work. The event was a continuation of a pre-draft process he’s mostly spent training out in Santa Barbara, California, that all leads into the draft next month in Brooklyn.

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Here are some more takeaways from what Dick had to say:

Gradey Dick has a plan for his pro day

Dick, who is likely going to be a lottery pick in the first round, confirmed that he will be going through his pro day Monday. During it, he wants to be able to show NBA scouts and executives his overall game. Although he understands people may look to his ability as a shooter first, considering how lethal he was as a 3-point shooter for the Jayhawks, he wants to showcase how versatile he’ll be able to be with more spacing available to him at the professional level.

Here’s what Gradey Dick appreciates about 3 different NBA stars

Dick said when he watches the NBA, he watches a varied group and tries to take different things from different players to add to his own game. Three of those guys are the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George and Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. And Dick outlined his specific reasons for each.

With George, it’s how a player like him “can really handle the ball and get to those spaces where they need” to go.

With Thompson, who Dick praised as a shooter, it’s “how he keeps his body square going full speed is super impressive.”

With Curry, who Dick also praised as a shooter, Dick explained, “You’re hearing this year with a lot of the guys’ podcasts, all that good stuff, of the underrated conditioning that he has, how he can just exhaust a defense and run around the court 24/7 and still have the energy to knock done a shot.”

Gradey Dick outlines the greatest thing he learned from Bill Self

Dick only spent one year playing for Jayhawks head coach Bill Self at Kansas before turning pro, but that’s still an opportunity to learn from someone who’s widely viewed as one of the best coaches around the game. And when Dick was asked what the greatest thing he learned from Self was, Dick pointed to the resiliency Self showed when Self dealt with health issues this past season.

How Self handled it, and came back and coached like Self always had, was something that Dick found motivating for himself and the team as a whole.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas’ Gradey Dick reflects on pre-draft process during NBA combine