Raptors’ Gradey Dick making strides, but nowhere near a finished product

This time a year ago, Gradey Dick was one of the biggest disappointments in an already disappointing Toronto Raptors season. 

Then in the middle of a difficult rookie season, the former Kansas star had struggled enough through his first three months as an NBA player that the organization decided collectively that the best way for him to get on track was to send him to the G-League as part of a comprehensive development plan I detailed in an end-of-season feature for Sportsnet.

The intervention worked in that Dick finished his rookie season on an uptick, averaging 11.2 points per game on 44.9 per cent shooting (38.9 per cent from three) in his last 39 games, 16 of which were starts, as compared to 3.3 points per game on 28.2 per cent shooting (23.9 per cent from three) in the first 39 games of the season.

But development at this level of competition isn’t linear. And for all the justified excitement around the start that Dick — who just turned 21 — enjoyed in his second season, his play has somewhat predictably fallen off as the season wore on. 

Dick was getting name-checked by opposing NBA coaches as he was putting up 18.1 points per game over the first six weeks of the year, and if the efficiency wasn’t ideal (41.7 per cent from the floor and 34.2 per cent from three), that he was chewing on a more varied and more difficult shot diet while competing against starters made it understandable.

And while Dick’s production hasn’t fallen off a cliff by any stretch — heading into the Raptors’ game against the Orlando Magic Tuesday night Dick is averaging 14.3 points a game over his last 19 games — the efficiency could still stand to improve as he’s shooting just 40.1 per cent from the floor and 34.9 per cent from three. 

Again, it’s understandable, given that Dick has now played nearly as many minutes (1099) in three months as he did all of last season, and through his entire college season at Kansas, and played them exclusively as an NBA starter. 

“It does feel a little bit similar compared to college and, yeah, last year but obviously a lot more games than in college and (in a) shorter time and (with) back-to-backs,” Dick said after practice on Monday. “It definitely takes a toll. But I feel like I talk about it — recovery and all stuff like that — a lot with the vets I can go to… that have been doing this year after year and kinda know little tricks to make their body stay right. And so I’ve kinda taken some of those things and really locked in with that. Because in college and high school, I would just lace them up and go, so I wasn’t really focused on that. But towards the end of college learning that stuff and eventually coming here, really taking that influence in and knowing that the 82-game season calls for that.”

It’s not that there haven’t been some significant strides made by the No. 13 overall pick from the 2023 draft. 

A season ago Dick’s job was much easier: Sprint to the corner to spread the floor and shoot it from there if he was open and swing it if he wasn’t. There were some wrinkles that he worked on and incorporated such as cutting away from the ball and pump-fake-and sidestep moves out of the corner, but the plan last season was very much about acclimatizing him to the league in a manageable way. 

But this season Dick’s offensive menu has broadened considerably. Far from relying on catch-and-shoot threes to generate offence, Dick has more than doubled his number of drives per game, up to 5.0 from 2.3 and is fourth among Raptors regulars in points scored from drives. More of his two-point opportunities are unassisted, compared to last season and his own assist percentage has increased (from seven per cent to 10 per cent) without a corresponding bump in turnovers, another positive. 

Similarly, as a starter Dick has been thrown in the deep end defensively against an overall higher calibre of competition. At times he’s been found wanting and has occasionally been pulled by head coach Darko Rajakovic for defensive miscues, or subbed out when the Raptors wanted to emphasize defense. 

“It’s been a huge learning experience,” said Dick. “For this early part of my career, to be going against starting fives in the NBA is what I need a player personally, as a shooting guard. It shows me how to move around the floor, stuff like that, and just different defences I see where some of the top defenders switch on me. So, I’m grateful for it. It’s growing me as a player.

“(And defensively) I mean, there’s different things that I need to learn obviously, when it comes to offence and defence. And I’ve talked about it before what I want to get better at, defensively,” he said. “And that’s a big point in my game that I want to grow. And going against offences like that, where it’s the top five guys in their team, you know, it’s only going to make me better. Yeah, there’s possessions where, you know, I may not do as well, but (with the coaching) staff… I go in right away and learn from it…  I mean, it’s a great atmosphere, and a great, great situation to be in.”

Other than for a select few, the NBA is never easy, but the development curve is never steeper than at the stage that Dick is at. As a rookie, it was a struggle just to drink from a fire hose, but in year two, it’s not like he’s ready to fight fires by himself. It takes time.

“Every year is every year is pretty big (in terms of development) if you’re trying to get better,” said RJ Barrett, who made significant improvements across the board in his second season but has made another nice jump in his sixth season. “ I look at even now from my second year from now, how different I am. So just every single summer you come in, you do your work. (But) coming into your second year, you definitely always feel like you have a lot more to prove. You know you didn’t really know anything coming in. And now (Grady), he knows a little bit more, so I’ve just been happy with Grady’s development, and you can see it when he’s out there on the court.” 

It helps that Dick has shown himself to be coachable as well. His demeanour or body language rarely varies, which has come in handy at times as he’s been held accountable for some of his growing pains in year two. 

“As long as you’re going hard, and that’s what Darko tries to instill in us, you have a little more leash to make a mistake, because if you’re just being hesitant, falling back, then you make the mistake, then you’re not helping anyone,” Dick said. “So it’s going hard. You can make some mistakes, so I think that’s what I try to do. I try to play hard, and the way I move around offensively and try to tire out the defence, I got to remember, scoot out on defensively. And it takes a lot of conditioning, but it’s my job.”

There is some relatively low-hanging fruit that he can pull on to keep inching up the development curve. Even as Dick has visited the paint more frequently, his finishing hasn’t improved — he’s finishing just 55.2 per cent of his shots inside three feet compared to 63.8 per cent last season. 

“I think it’s just the pace of my game as I get in inside the three-point line, I tend to sometimes try to be too eager to get to the rim, and it doesn’t always help me,” he said. “… But I can (only) work on that so much in practice, so it’s nice to have the live play. You know, you’re playing against like the best defences out there. So when I go against guys like that, it’ll help me get better.”

Dick has come miles from where he was this time a year ago for the Raptors, but he’s nowhere near a finished product, which is encouraging for all concerned.

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