Evaluating Dink Pate in the Mexico City Capitanes-Memphis Hustle Game

December 11th, 2024

Today, I took the time to watch Dink Pate and the Mexico City Capitanes play in a G-League basketball game against the Memphis Hustle. Pate is a long, athletic forward that has a versatile skill set, and he’s had some very good games in the G-League this year. He’s made significant strides, and he’s shown marked improvement, to the point where he could be a possible lottery pick for the 2025 draft. In this game, he played very well, as he especially excelled as a shooter, scorer, and facilitator in this team’s loss to the Hustle. Here are my thoughts on how he fared, as well as how his skills may translate to the NBA. Also, for those that are interested in the box score of this game, here is the link, courtesy of G-League – NBA.com.

Mexico City’s 6-8 forward, Dink Pate scored 19 points in his team’s 112-101 to the Memphis Hustle today.
(Photo: John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Dink Pate had a strong showing for the Capitanes in his team’s tough loss to the Hustle. He especially played well on offense. Pate shot the ball very well, especially from downtown. He showed a knack for making quick, open spot-up threes off the catch. He has a quick release combined with having good size that can enable him to easily get his shot off, and he also has a lot of range on his shot. Pate also was able to move off the ball to make an open three, and he especially shot the ball well in the second half.

Pate also showed a solid ability to score off the dribble. He handles the ball well, and he would score on smooth, strong drives to the hoop. He used an overhead ball fake to score once, and he also scored on a running bank layup while getting an extra free throw another time. While he was more inconsistent with his mid-range shot, Pate was able to use a crossover move and stepped back to make a smooth mid-range jumper once.

Also, Pate displayed solid playmaking skills in this game. He has solid court vision, and he would make an array of passes to notch assists and set up scoring chances for his teammates. He can quickly get into the lane and make passes off the dribble to get his teammates the basketball, and he also can find teammates on the move. Sometimes though, he would occasionally over-dribble, as he had a ball poked away from him once to commit a turnover.

He also did a decent job of rebounding the basketball. He would chase down balls to get defensive boards, and he would tend to quickly push the ball up the floor afterwards. He also would tip balls to teammates to help his team get defensive boards. Defensively, he looked to be about average at best. For the positives, Pate is a long and athletic defender that has the footwork to stay in front of his man, and he would defend drives and use his length, athleticism, and positioning to force opponents to commit ball-handling turnovers. On the downside, he would play too aggressively, as he would sometimes put his hands on opponents and other times would close out too hard, which would lead him to commit fouls and allow scores.

Overall, Dink Pate had a very good game, as he scored 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting, made 4 threes, and he also had 4 rebounds and 3 assists in his team’s 112-101 loss to the Memphis Hustle. Pate is having a very good season with the Mexico City Capitanes, and he is an athletic, skilled, versatile player that could end up going in the mid first round range of the 2025 draft, as he could end up being a solid player similar to Indiana Pacers’ swingman, Bennedict Mathurin in the NBA.

All in all, those are my thoughts on how Pate fared in this game. Thanks for reading.