Another Wichita native is receiving an opportunity to break through in the NBA.
After concluding a 6-year collegiate career with his best season at Missouri, Caleb Grill, a 2019 Maize graduate, has conducted pre-draft workouts with six NBA teams with four more scheduled ahead of the June 25 draft.
Grill was in San Francisco on Monday and spoke with the media following his on-court workout with the Golden State Warriors.
“As a kid, everybody always dreamed of being in this opportunity,” Grill said. “I want to thank the people who have helped put me in this position to fulfill a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid. I’m just trying to take it all in and be a sponge everywhere I’m going.”
Grill is looking to follow in the footsteps of fellow Wichita native Gradey Dick, who was selected with the 13th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, as the next Wichita native to reach the NBA.
After playing at Collegiate and Sunrise Christian Academy in high school, then Kansas in college, Dick has looked promising in his two years with the Toronto Raptors as the first Wichita native to play in the NBA since Maurice Evans retired in 2012.
While Grill isn’t projected to be a lottery pick, he is using workouts like the one Monday with the Warriors to try to convince an NBA team to take a shot on him — whether in the second round or a 2-way contract or even just an invitation to the NBA Summer League in July.
He certainly capitalized on his opportunity to turn heads at the NBA G League camp, where he averaged 14 points and shot 54.5% on 3-pointers during the games and then posted the best vertical jump (38 inches) and best shuttle run (2.70 seconds) among the 45 prospects in attendance.
“Showcase my ability and not do something that hasn’t gotten me here,” Grill said when asked about his goal in pre-draft workouts. “You may get told you have some weaknesses, but one thing I’ve learned from going to each of these workouts is to play to your strengths, don’t play to your weaknesses. (NBA scouts) know what you’re good at. So just continue to do what’s got me here and try to do that to the best of my ability.”
For Grill, that’s outside shooting.
He was a strong 3-point shooter throughout his college career, which included stops at Iowa State, UNLV and Missouri, but Grill put himself on the NBA radar this past season when he knocked down 39.6% of triples for a Mizzou team that earned an NCAA Tournament bid. He averaged a career-high 13.7 points on a career-best 47.2% shooting and 86.4% foul shooting, while knocking down six 3s and scoring 22 points in a Jan. 14 win over Florida, the eventual national champions.
“(Shooting) is one thing that I can bring out, just spacing and being able to hit shots,” said Grill, who was voted the SEC Sixth Man of the Year. “I can have games where I can go hit five or six 3s in a game. That’s what I’ve done throughout my college career and that’s what got me here.”
When asked for an NBA player comparison, Grill said he is hoping to follow the career arc of Max Strus, a sharpshooter who went undrafted in 2019 and worked his way up from 2-way and Exhibit-10 contracts to signing a 4-year, $62 million deal as a key player for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Strus knocked down 38.6% of his 3s this past season and averaged 9.4 points this past season for the Cavaliers, the top team in the Eastern Conference.
“I’ve been watching a lot of Max Strus and how he started his career because we may be in the same starting spots in our careers,” Grill said. “I watch the intensity that he plays with on both ends of the floor and how he shoots the ball and how he impacts winning in so many different ways. It reminds me of how I try to play, except I’m trying to play like him because he’s at the higher level. Hopefully I can work my way up to where he’s at today.”
Grill said he has completed workouts for the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers. He also has future visits scheduled with the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers.
He gave credit to Missouri coach Dennis Gates for helping prepare him for the NBA workouts with the style of offense that the Tigers played this past season. Grill also said he has enjoyed going through the pre-draft process with Mizzou teammate Tamar Bates.
After logging six workouts in the books, Grill said he knows what he needs to improve to hopefully earn an opportunity with a team later this summer.
“I’ve still got to keep getting better on the defensive end of the floor and keep building strength,” Grill said. “In this new league, the players are more developed with their bodies. One thing I’ve really got to do to go to the next level and maintain my basketball career is keep building strength and keep learning IQ on the defensive end of the floor.”