Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham - 2024 NBA Draft

[MemphisX]

Ok, guys, these guys have earned their own thread. In a draft that has been considered lackluster, these two undersized guards have seemingly stood out. I think it is obvious these guys are 1st round picks at the least in the 2024 NBA Draft but how high can they go? Will their performance and production continue throughout the season?

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[EvanZ]

Man I feel old. Jeff Sheppard was my dude back in the day.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Dillingham might be Trae Young without the flopping.

I don't know if Trae Young is a net positive player at this point in the NBA.

I'm pretty certain 80-90% of Trae Young is not an NBA player.

If Dillingham were just less tiny, I would feel way better about him, but he's just so small.

[BlazersBroncos]

Reed has been tremendous on both sides of the ball but at that size and not a true PG nor an elite athlete who knows how his game translates. I would bet on him though. Super old / weird comparison but he reminds me a bit of Larry Steele.

Dillingham reminds me of Bones with a brain transplant.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Dillingham might be Trae Young without the flopping.

I don't know if Trae Young is a net positive player at this point in the NBA.

I'm pretty certain 80-90% of Trae Young is not an NBA player.

If Dillingham were just less tiny, I would feel way better about him, but he's just so small.

dillingham is a little bigger than young though, right. just a tad taller and thicker too, right?

[Hal14]

Dillingham might be Trae Young without the flopping.

I don't know if Trae Young is a net positive player at this point in the NBA.

I'm pretty certain 80-90% of Trae Young is not an NBA player.

If Dillingham were just less tiny, I would feel way better about him, but he's just so small.

He's basically the same size as Darius Garland, similar size to Steph when he entered the league. He's taller than Trae - skinnier than Trae but Rob is very young, still plenty of time to bulk up..

[Colbinii]

Dillingham might be Trae Young without the flopping.

I don't know if Trae Young is a net positive player at this point in the NBA.

I'm pretty certain 80-90% of Trae Young is not an NBA player.

If Dillingham were just less tiny, I would feel way better about him, but he's just so small.

Trae Young is definitely a net-positive. He guarantees you a 118-120 Ortg by himself.

[Saints14]

Watched a full Kentucky game for the first time this season last night. Saw their stats before but they both popped yesterday.

For a guy that doesn't look like he should be, Sheppard is really good on defense. Great positioning, timing and exceptionally quick hands. He's not a primary creator type but add that to smart decision making and elite shooting (when open at least) on offense, he seems like an easy bet to at least be a positive impact guy in the NBA.

Dillingham looks extremely smooth with the ball, elite scoring potential and excellent passing too. He's got the extremely rare combination of being a great bucket-getter while ALSO being very high IQ - you don't normally see that. I didn't pay much attention to him on defense but it's to see him as a potential efficient primary engine of a team if he can just hold up on that end

[clyde21]

i like Lil Rob but before people start throwing out the Trae Young comps people should remember that Young averaged an absurd 27ppg and 9apg at Oklahoma, and was popping off 10 3s a game vs just 4 for Dillingham...just completely different levels of offensive explosion and even playmaking.

wasn't even the biggest Trae fan either at the time tbh.

[The-Power]

i like Lil Rob but before people start throwing out the Trae Young comps people should remember that Young averaged an absurd 27ppg and 9apg at Oklahoma, and was popping off 10 3s a game vs just 4 for Dillingham...just completely different levels of offensive explosion and even playmaking.

wasn't even the biggest Trae fan either at the time tbh.

A lot of that comes down to MPG. Young played a ton more minutes and nobody on his team would contest for ball handling duties. This isn't to say that Dillingham is a Trae-level offensive player but it's not really fair to compare their raw numbers.

Still, currently Dillingham stands at 36 PTS (65% TS) and 13 AST with 3 TOV per 100. Trae finished with 40 PTS (59% TS) and 13 AST with 8 TOV per 100. Dillingham has 10 3PA to Trae's 15.

I highly doubt that Dillingham's numbers will look like this at the end of the year. But it's also too early to put a cap on his ability to be a one-man offense at PG. And I honestly doubt that we'll truly know by the end of the season considering how stacked the Kentucky team is when it comes to small Guards.

[clyde21]

i like Lil Rob but before people start throwing out the Trae Young comps people should remember that Young averaged an absurd 27ppg and 9apg at Oklahoma, and was popping off 10 3s a game vs just 4 for Dillingham...just completely different levels of offensive explosion and even playmaking.

wasn't even the biggest Trae fan either at the time tbh.

A lot of that comes down to MPG. Young played a ton more minutes and nobody on his team would contest for ball handling duties. This isn't to say that Dillingham is a Trae-level offensive player but it's not really fair to compare their raw numbers.

Still, currently Dillingham stands at 36 PTS (65% TS) and 13 AST with 3 TOV per 100. Trae finished with 40 PTS (59% TS) and 13 AST with 8 TOV per 100. Dillingham has 10 3PA to Trae's 15.

I highly doubt that Dillingham's numbers will look like this at the end of the year. But it's also too early to put a cap on his ability to be a one-man offense at PG. And I honestly doubt that we'll truly know by the end of the season considering how stacked the Kentucky team is when it comes to small Guards.

yea the stats are minutes/volumes based but there something to being able to put up that kind of volume, just because someone can do it in smaller/shorter scales doesn't mean they can do it in expanded roles.

and I'm not necessarily totally against the comp, I would just tread lightly for now.

[Hal14]

Yeah I would say someone like Trae or Darius Garland is certainly his high end outcome. It's possible but let's not just pencil him in as that guy..

If you thought he was that guy, he'd be the #1 pick in a draft class as weak as this one. 6'2" guys never go that high, though. So perhaps he ends up going top 5.

I'm still in wait and see mode a little bit with him - currently have him 8th on my board..

[Chi town]

IMO his ceiling will dependent on those volume 3s.

Def between Boned and Trae. See some Quickley too

[FarBeyondDriven]

I wish we could see them being the man somewhere instead of taking turns. I'm not sure it would take make much difference as far as their draft stock goes though. Sheppard is a 6'3" undersized SG with poor length and about the same level of prospect, maybe slightly better, than Divencenzo and Josh Hart. Could be a starter on a team with a Big Three that can't afford more? Likely a 6th man type though. I don't see Dillingham overcoming his size and being a contributor in the NBA sadly.

edit - Dillingham is clearly incredibly skilled and an elite college player but I'm not convinced he's more than 6'1". He reminds me of a more athletic Lou Williams or undersized Maxey. He'll be a first rounder just not in the lottery conversation I don't think. I think Sheppard will get more NBA run than Dillingham

[Upperclass]

Rob is like Bones or Quickly except much smaller and a worse shooter. He isnt an NBA point and is too small to play 2. He's a perpetual tear it up in Europe or China "Why isnt he in the league" guy

[The-Power]

i like Lil Rob but before people start throwing out the Trae Young comps people should remember that Young averaged an absurd 27ppg and 9apg at Oklahoma, and was popping off 10 3s a game vs just 4 for Dillingham...just completely different levels of offensive explosion and even playmaking.

wasn't even the biggest Trae fan either at the time tbh.

A lot of that comes down to MPG. Young played a ton more minutes and nobody on his team would contest for ball handling duties. This isn't to say that Dillingham is a Trae-level offensive player but it's not really fair to compare their raw numbers.

Still, currently Dillingham stands at 36 PTS (65% TS) and 13 AST with 3 TOV per 100. Trae finished with 40 PTS (59% TS) and 13 AST with 8 TOV per 100. Dillingham has 10 3PA to Trae's 15.

I highly doubt that Dillingham's numbers will look like this at the end of the year. But it's also too early to put a cap on his ability to be a one-man offense at PG. And I honestly doubt that we'll truly know by the end of the season considering how stacked the Kentucky team is when it comes to small Guards.

yea the stats are minutes/volumes based but there something to being able to put up that kind of volume, just because someone can do it in smaller/shorter scales doesn't mean they can do it in expanded roles.

and I'm not necessarily totally against the comp, I would just tread lightly for now.

Totally agreed here. It's not fair to Dillingham to compare raw numbers considering the additional minutes and usage Trae was allowed to have. But it's likewise not fair to Trae to compare per 100 possession numbers because it's difficult to keep up production when your overall burden increases and as the one player defenses focus on.

So we'll have to wait and see on this front. As I said, I doubt that the numbers stay as they currently are until the end of the season. But even if they remain in that ballpark, there's a good chance we still won't be confident in what he looks like as the singular offensive engine on a team. I could see assessments of him wildly diverging when it comes to his place big boards across the internet.

[The-Power]

If you thought he was that guy, he'd be the #1 pick in a draft class as weak as this one. 6'2" guys never go that high, though.

Well, it's not impossible. Iverson and Irving both went #1 at that height. Wall and Rose may only have been marginally taller as well (though I'd guess they were longer and certainly had better physical tools). But I agree that it's an uphill battle and you'd have to be really outstanding relative to your competition to be the #1 pick with his physique – and I don't see it yet either. But then again, I don't see any player worthy of being the #1 pick yet, so who knows what will happen if he actually keeps up playing the way he has thus far.

[Saints14]

i like Lil Rob but before people start throwing out the Trae Young comps people should remember that Young averaged an absurd 27ppg and 9apg at Oklahoma, and was popping off 10 3s a game vs just 4 for Dillingham...just completely different levels of offensive explosion and even playmaking.

wasn't even the biggest Trae fan either at the time tbh.

A lot of that comes down to MPG. Young played a ton more minutes and nobody on his team would contest for ball handling duties. This isn't to say that Dillingham is a Trae-level offensive player but it's not really fair to compare their raw numbers.

Still, currently Dillingham stands at 36 PTS (65% TS) and 13 AST with 3 TOV per 100. Trae finished with 40 PTS (59% TS) and 13 AST with 8 TOV per 100. Dillingham has 10 3PA to Trae's 15.

I highly doubt that Dillingham's numbers will look like this at the end of the year. But it's also too early to put a cap on his ability to be a one-man offense at PG. And I honestly doubt that we'll truly know by the end of the season considering how stacked the Kentucky team is when it comes to small Guards.

yea the stats are minutes/volumes based but there something to being able to put up that kind of volume, just because someone can do it in smaller/shorter scales doesn't mean they can do it in expanded roles.

and I'm not necessarily totally against the comp, I would just tread lightly for now.

What I like about what we've seen from Dillingham so far is that even though we don't know how he'd do in a super high usage role like Trae (and we won't find that out this year because of Kentucky's guard depth), we know he can be efficient on a good team without totally dominating the ball. And his scoring ability + AST/TO rate suggests at least some upside of being that high usage creator. To me that feels like a better risk reward bet than someone like Trae who was seen as either an elite heliocentric option or a bench guy

Garland feels like a decent upside comp, he also kind of reminds me of a much headier Malik Monk

[azcatz11]

Vecenie threw a loose comp for Shepperd to Steph Curry the other day

[Hal14]

Vecenie threw a loose comp for Shepperd to Steph Curry the other day

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.