Dink Pate Scouting Deepdive
Dink Pate is one of the most exciting, yet confusing, prospects in the 2025 class. But what makes him so intriguing?
Introduction
Name: Dink Pate
Position: SG
Height: 6’8’’ ft
Wingspan: 6’10’’ ft
Weight: 210 lb
Draft age: 19.30 years old
G-League season has already started and Dink Pate is the most coveted prospect in the league this season. After a rocky season with many ups and downs representing the Ignite, Pate is now in a new context, a new country, but in the same league.
The Capitanes’ Guard will have a season in a more favourable environment, a team full of veterans that should help him on and off the court. However, now the path for minutes is more difficult, those same veterans are fighting for their careers and a chance to get to the NBA.
But Pate’s chance to be in the NBA is not a lock, therefore, from here on out, we will break down his stint with the Ignite, to find out the aspects of Pate’s game that he should improve from his 17 year-old season to this fresh new one.
Athleticism
Advantages
His overall athleticism is amazing, he is truly a gifted athlete. Pate is fast, has an envious first-step, and is extremely explosive getting off the ground. Moreover, he has functional athleticism with his smooth and coordinated movement ability, he is quick but in a controlled manner, plus his lateral quickness and agility are already NBA-ready.
Limitations
Exclusively his strength. The young Guard is very skinny, which limits the impact on the court, on both ends. In the following chapters, you will read about how he dodges physicality on the offensive side and how grown men can go through him on the defensive side, both because he is skinny and needs to mature physically in this particular aspect.
Offense
What stands out?
It is always a great starting point when a Guard can finish above the rim in a half-court setting, however, when there is context given his age and and competition, you know that such prospect has a high-ceiling outcome. Pate gathers that eye-popping ability to some finesse moves that help him finish below the rim.
A common problem with athletic Guards is their inability to score from pull-ups, and despite that not being Pate’s game he shows to be comfortable scoring from the mid-range, especially from the elbows. I know that mid-range scoring is not the most craved skill for NBA teams, but Pate self-creates most of these jumpers or shoots off-the-dribble after a screen, which is a good starting point for a 17-year-old to start to extend the range to the 3-point line.
His jumpshot creation translates to the NBA as he is a sudden mover with the ball in his hands and uses his short area quickness to get space to shoot. The ball-handling was rarely a problem or a limitation factor when creating his own shot, on the contrary, it is rather advanced for a lengthy tall Guard (although the left hand could use some work).
Where should he improve?
When we are dealing with such young prospects the first answer is (almost) always the same: 3-point shooting. Last year’s numbers are worrisome - 21.4% - but given the context they do not tell the whole story. I can find some good indicators moving forward: over 70 FT%, there are good flashes, he was extremely young, transitioned from the HS-line right to the NBA-line, and he has a fluid one-motion shooting technique, which could indicate that with more reps he can get to ‘reliable status’. However, despite the possibility of all this being true, if he does not display a spike in the percentages now that he is in a more favourable context, teams will have a great amount of concern come Draft night. To help boost those numbers I would like some tweaks on the shooting mechanics. He shoots from above the head, which makes it harder to become a consistent shooter; in addition, he jumps forward during the shot, increasing the energy wasted on the shot, and increasing volatility in the motion, especially at the end of games when he is tired.
A feature that he could add down the line is a jump as a scorer by increasing the number of trips to the FT-line. When he attacks the basket he is contact-shy, as shown by averaging only 1 FTA/g, in case he embraces the natural physicality of that area he will become a more efficient scorer.
Another aspect that he should iron out is his P&R. The tape shows someone who is raw and needs repetitions to improve decision-making in order to diagnose better the defense.
His overall passing ability did not blow me away, there were some flashes, but he was a little too slow at identifying where the advantage was, which is expected for a 17-year-old in the G-League. Also, defensive manipulation would be a characteristic that I would like for him to include in his game in order to have a jump in playmaking ability. That could be the difference for teams to envision him as some sort of pseudo-PG which would pay great dividends in his Draft stock.
Defense
Pros
His elite athletic traits give him a safe floor and a high ceiling as an on-ball defender. Pate’s combination of great short-area quickness, with length and explosiveness is the perfect mix for a Guard or Wing Stopper, he is so smooth at changing directions that sometimes looks like I am watching a veteran WR running routes. The on-ball ingredients are all here, he just needs to mature and gain experience.
A micro-skill that really stood up to me was his closeouts. Obviously, when someone is as athletic as he is, you can risk, gamble and win more often; however, there were perfect textbook closeouts that a teenager was not supposed to be doing regularly.
Pate also offers some out-of-position rim protection with his height, and leaping ability combo; and out-of-position rebounding with his mentality allied to the consistent presence in the restricted area.
Cons
His lack of strength places him at a disadvantage when picking up a fully physically developed veteran who can bully him into the paint. Nonetheless, as time passes and Pate enters his physical prime he will gradually have fewer problems with this.
As was anticipated, he got bewildered on the court, normally by overcommitting to a help or simply miscalculating the ground he was able to cover. Most of the errors were not worrisome, because the overall defense understanding was there, but was a second too slow processing the offense’s concepts, therefore he should fix the majority of his limitations as he gains experience.