When will Gradey Dick be MVP?
It's noodle time
Most of my friends who watch basketball are NBA fans, primarily. While many of my associates watched the NBA Finals, smashed the groupchat and admired the high level of basketball being played (in every game before game 5 at least), there’s a vocal contingent expressing relief that it’s over.
That way, we can all move on to being psychos about June 22’s NBA Draft, which always happens sooner than you expect it to. It’s time to talk about trades that won’t happen. NBA basketball, it’s year round now! This message is brought to you by DraftKings.
The bowl actually dropped…. analysis below1
Watching the NBA through the prism of former KU players is not the intended experience, but I do it anyway. That’s why it’s easy to be a draftnik when two Jayhawks, Dick and Jalen Wilson, figure to be in the first 40 picks. It’s exciting, and that kind of thing always gives a program juice. Dick’s pick prognosis has slid a little bit—in team workouts, it’s difficult to showcase two of his best traits, intensity and unselfishness—and I’m seeing him land as high as six and as low as 13.
When it comes to the range of teams there, I like… all of those fits? Dick feels to me like a pretty nice piece to incorporate into a modern NBA offense—he doesn’t need the ball to create, he won’t be defensively shaded heavily in the NBA as a rookie, and he’s the best shooter in the Draft. That tends to work out.!
Orlando feels like a cool spot for him, either at 6 or 11. I’m not worried about the G man and most of my big Dick energy is spent thinking about how his weird, goof-core, very comfortable-with-himself personality will pop in the personality-based NBA. Also he’s shown a discrete willingness to secure the bag, which I think bodes well, as far as bags go. Plus… cat guy? Let’s go!
Let’s talk Jalen.
When it comes to Jayhawks going League, I’m selfish. I want Jalen to wind up at a good org that has a track record of developing role players and has a relatively stable coaching and development structure: Memphis, San Antonio… dare I say Sacramento would be kind of nice for him? He’s got a tweener game in the way I think the game is trending, which is better than the other way around. His improvement last year was a revelation—it’s easy to see some upside left over, especially when it comes to his shooting (I think he’s a better shooter than he was able to show at Kansas but we’ll see).
We still have a week to talk about this. Gradey Dick MVP 2026. Hit the chat, we’ll leave the light on for you.
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Solid order. I might have to give Ochai’s bowl the edge, with the sour cream + tomato salsa, but I can’t complain too much. Is no one going burrito anymore? I blame ketosis. Also, lettuce on Chipotle always throws me… I get the instinct to get some green on something like a burrito, but iceberg just dampens the whole flavor profile. And that’s what Chipotle does well, I think! Feel free to comment about Chipotle only