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Rob Dillingham: NBA draft scouting report and intel

2004 | 6’3 | 6’3 WS | 176 LBS

Team: Kentucky

Agent: Rich Paul and Lucas Newton (Klutch)

Best aggregate mock draft rank: 3 / Worst rank: NR

In 2023-24, Dillingham averaged 15.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steal per game. He shot 47.5 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three, and 79.6 percent from the foul line.

Strengths:

* Instant offense off bench, leads in assists, second in scoring for Kentucky

* Blazing fast, elite speed, decent touch

* Controls pace at high speeds, skilled in high-speed crossovers

* Efficient pick-and-roll, low turnover

* Quick jumper, good form, hits perimeter shots off dribble

* Effective isolation scorer, solid midrange, nice floaters

* Athletic, confident scorer, scores in bunches off bench

* Solid midrange pull-up shooter, fast release

* Lightning quick, finishes over big men

* High-usage potential on weaker teams, ideal as sixth man

Weaknesses:

* Questionable shot selection and lack of floor generalship

* Undersized for his position, affecting finishing and ability to fight through contact

* Questionable defense, struggles with fighting over screens and closing out on point of attack

* Gets distracted off the ball and poorly times jumps into passing lanes

* Undersized combo guard, just small in general

Scotto's draft notes:

“How sexy is an undersized combo guard in the NBA?” an NBA executive told HoopsHype.

“I think he’s a scorer off the bench,” another executive told HoopsHype. “I don’t think in the biggest of games he can be your starting point guard. He can make high pick-and-roll shots off a highball screen. That’s important in this day and age. You’ve got to be able to make those shots. He plays with a lot of speed. He can make passes. I think he’s got to slow down a little bit, but there’s plenty to like offensively. Defensively, he can’t guard anyone. He doesn’t really try, so you can’t play any switching defense with him. You’re going to run into the same situation you have with Trae Young, and I’m not sure he’s as talented as Trae.”

“I see a guy coming off the bench who moves the scoreboard for a team,” a longtime NBA executive told HoopsHype. “He’s not a true point guard. He’s a scoring guard. At his size, he’ll be considered a point guard because that’s who he’ll have to guard, but is he going to help facilitate for others? He’s going to come off the bench, change the pace of the game and score the ball. You’d hope that he outscores the guy he’s guarding.”

“Dillingham is talented and has some athletic pop to his game,” an NBA scout told HoopsHype. “He can score the ball, he’s quick and pushes the ball, but he’s very erratic. You’ve got to know what you’re getting. These Allen Iverson types of guys aren’t working in the league. He’s got to go to the right situation. A team will take a chance on his talent. He’s small, but he can get in the lane and make these elite passes. He can come off the bench and score in bunches, but his shot selection isn’t great.”

Excerpts from HoopsHype’s Aggregate Mock Draft from colleague Michael Scotto, who contributed research to this story, can be found here.

Story originally appeared on HoopsHype