@@Toronto Raptors

[Shams]Sources: Toronto is selecting Gradey Dick at No. 13.

  • June 23, 2023


[Shams]Sources: Toronto is selecting Gradey Dick at No. 13.

48 comments

  6. I always thought he was just a meme. I haven’t followed him at all in college 😭

  15. WE GOT A SHOOTER

    There’s a lot of talent still there, we should be trying to get another pick

  20. He fits a need for sure but fuck if this guy doesnt look like he’s from a Disney basketball movie.

  25. I love it. An elite shooter to pair with Scottie. Those dribble handoffs are gonna be amazing. It’s a pick for need but also has upside there too despite what some might think of it being a low-ceiling pick

  29. “We only have 6 ‘ 9 guys who can’t shoot”
    *drafts sharpshooter*
    “ why would they do that”

  30. Wow I’m pleasantly surprised I thought he would be gone and I didn’t think he was a Masai pick.

    Really good fit next to Scottie for our future

  31. we have shooting??? How good is he at other skills? Defense? I feel like i should be hyped!

  34. His last name is going to bury any meaningful discussion about him as a player lol.

  35. Instant reaction: this sounds like we’re bringing back Fred

    Second take: Atlanta taking Bufkin for a Siakam trade?

  37. This guy is perfect for the sort of offense Darko has talked about running. I know the defense is a huge concern, but he’s going to have huge gravity and will cause chaos running off screens while Barnes or Siakam have the ball in the high post.

  38. People are crying but Dick is a 40% 3pt shooter, with a 38.5% NBA average 3pt projection.

    He’s a floor spacing 2 guard that can play well with Siakam or Barnes. This guy is gonna get minutes early because he isn’t a ball hog, he seems pretty selfless and will get his within the flow of the offense which is great. We can now put 3 shooters around Siakam and Barnes at all times, or 4 shooters around when one is off.

    This just made our team deeper AND helps fill a major need. He will play immediately.

  40. Vecenie Writeup:

    16. Gradey Dick
    W | Kansas | Birthdate: Nov. 29, 2003 (Age: 19) | 6-6 | 205 LBS | Hometown: Wichita, Kan.

    YEAR | TEAM | LEAGUE | AGE | GP | PPG | RPG | APG | TOPG | BPG | SPG | FG% | 3P% | FT%
    —-|—-|——|—|–|—|—|—|—-|—|—|—|—|—
    2022-23 | Kansas | NCAA (Big 12) | 19 | 36 | 14.1 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.2 | 40.3 | 85.4

    **STRENGTHS**

    Great size for a floor spacer at 6-foot-6 1/4 without shoes. Bigger than these types of players normally are. An underrated athlete.
    Won’t be an above-average athlete in the NBA but does have more pop than he gets credit for. Has some real question marks that
    we’ll address below, but he does play a very fluid game athletically. Great hand-eye coordination.

    Dick is terrific shooter. He brings more to the table, but that’s where everything starts. His entire offensive game is predicated
    upon how big of a weapon he is off the catch. Has an exceptionally smooth release and pristine mechanics that will translate
    well to any level. Balance is perfect on every shot. Almost perfect shot prep. Great weight transfer from his lower half to upper
    half. His release point is very high, which makes it harder to contest than the typical 6-8 shooter in shoes. On top of that, can
    get the ball off quickly. Doesn’t need to dip the ball off the catch to fire it from 3. All of this makes him very hard to close out on
    effectively. Made 37 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s this past season on great volume, taking about six per game.

    Moreover, Dick’s a versatile shooter. He hits shots off legitimate actions and off different footwork. Will hit them off the hop
    or on a one-two step. There isn’t a moment where he has the ball in his hands that he’s not capable of stopping and firing from
    3 if you don’t stay attached to him. Can go behind a dribble handoff and make one, as well as get balanced quickly off the hop
    coming off a flare screen. Lethal in transition, where he will stop and fire from 25 feet. Has great instincts for finding open
    shots. Moves extremely well without the ball. Will hit them off one-dribble relocations or off relocating offensive rebounds. I
    think there’s a case that he’s a better pull-up shooter than a catch-and-shoot guy off those one- or two-dribble relocations
    or movements. Hit 53.5 percent of his 3s off the dribble this past season, per Synergy, most of which were in those kinds of
    settings. Knows how to space to help create lanes for his teammates. Understands the gravity of his floor spacing and how to best
    weaponize it.

    Additionally, he’s a sharp cutter. Has potential to be one of those guys who’s just constantly in motion on offense and was
    utilized that way at Kansas. Knows how to take advantage of defenders overplaying him and cut backdoor. Sets up defenders,
    then counters with quick moves. His sense of timing is superb on plays like this. Once he catches, he’s a terrific finisher. Shields
    the ball from defenders well and knows how to contort and adjust his body in midair to create angles to finish at the rim. Again,
    showcases great balance and focuses well on the rim in these circumstances. That tremendous touch translates here too. Made
    58.7 percent of his half-court opportunities at the basket, per Synergy, a good number for a floor spacer who largely will be
    getting cutting opportunities or chances off hard closeouts.

    Not going to self-create much but does use the threat of the shot to attack closeouts and put pressure on defenders. Again, can
    finish at the rim in these circumstances. Will hit one- or two-dribble pull-ups from both midrange or from behind the 3-point
    line. If he gets an advantage on an out-of-control close, he’s going to take it. Must be so solid and consistent, or he will beat you.
    Also shines as a passer here. Really knows how to read defenders and find his open teammates on the move on his drives. Eyes
    flash both to cutters toward the rim and for kickouts to the 3-point line. Really high feel for the game and knows how to either
    make the one-touch quick read or how to draw defenders toward him to make the kickout to the open man. Only averaged 1.7
    assists per game, but he knows how to move the ball within the construct of the offense. Per Pivot Analysis, Kansas scored 115.3
    points per 100 possessions with Dick on the court and outscored its opponent by nearly 15 points. When he was off the court,
    Kansas only scored 98.6 points per 100 possessions and lost by six points per 100. No other player on Kansas saw greater than a
    five-point differential in terms of improving the team’s offense.

    **WEAKNESSES**

    Dick doesn’t have overly long arms. His 8-foot-5 standing reach is not as big as his height would indicate. He is an underrated
    athlete and better in this regard than some traditional floor spacers he’ll be compared to such as Duncan Robinson, Kevin
    Huerter and Max Strus. But he’s not an above-average athlete on the wing in the NBA, and where he lacks right now is in the
    strength department. The intersection of average-ish athleticism, below-average length and below-average strength will be a
    real problem he has to fix at the next level.

    A lot of these issues result in real defensive worries for scouts. Dick has moments when he’s OK, and he got better throughout
    his freshman season at using angles and being aware of his help-side responsibilities. He is competitive and wants to be able to
    handle his workload on this end. His hands are good, and he has good anticipation for getting into passing lanes. He took a lot
    of charges by getting himself into solid spots. Still, he has a real chance to be a player who gets hunted in the NBA defensively by
    bigger on-ball creators.

    He’s not strong enough right now to hold up in those situations on an island. Players go through his chest and power him to
    the rim even when he has good position. His feet are OK, and he generally does a good job of getting in the way against college
    competition, but bigger NBA wings have potential to cause him a lot of issues by putting their shoulder into him and using
    deceleration steps. Despite being 6-foot-8, he doesn’t get his length in the way all that often and seems to give quite a bit of extra
    space to compensate for his average lateral quickness so that he doesn’t get blown by. Additionally, he struggles to fight through
    screens right now. Gets clipped often. Recovers fine when he gets beat in isolation but doesn’t seem to have as much recovery
    ability in ball screen situations. There also seem to be a lot of breakdowns involving him in actions when communication is
    involved and an exchange has to take place. With Dick’s size and fluid feet, I think he has potential to fix up some of these
    worries as he gets stronger. But he will likely struggle on an NBA court early.

    Dick does not really project as a shot creator off the bounce in terms of creating his own advantages. Seems to be a two-dribbles-
    and-pass guy right now. It doesn’t project to be his role necessarily, and he’ll be successful on offense with or without it. But it
    would be helpful for him if he could run second-side ball screens or create an advantage on his own off the bounce to collapse
    defenders as opposed to someone else needing to create the advantage for him by collapsing the defense and getting him into
    a good spot where he has a defender closing out on him. To do this, he’d need to do some real work on his handle in terms of
    changing directions and speed. It would be a surprise to see him reach the level where he is a second-side option as a creator.
    That limits his upside a bit unless he essentially turns into Klay Thompson as an off-ball weapon in the right offense.

    **SUMMARY**

    Dick seems like one of the safest bets we’ve seen in a while to be a genuinely good floor spacer in the NBA. His shooting
    mechanics, basketball IQ and overall comfort level as a player who can score without needing the ball in his hands constantly
    projects extremely well toward the NBA, regardless of situation. He can play in a ball-movement-heavy scheme or in a
    heliocentric scheme where one player dominates the ball. Guys like this who can create their offense simply by moving without
    the ball and finding dead spaces in the defense are often worth their weight in gold on offense if they can convert 3s. Even if he’s
    not the one making shots, he has to be guarded, which opens space for everyone else. The defense must improve. There are signs
    he could get to an adequate level in time, but there are significant flaws that could crater his game on that end if things don’t
    go right. The offensive game has potential to be so positive in how it impacts his team that he has to be taken somewhere in the
    top 20. If the defense breaks right, he could be seen as something of a steal if he ends up being near the end of the lottery. Being
    able to hold his own on defense would make him a starter in the NBA. But there are some improvement areas he needs to work
    through before he reaches that level.

  42. 6’7, 205 lbs with a 6’8 wingspan & he looks like an elite shooter. I was hoping we would get a guard who can create his own shot & maybe facilitate but I still really fuck w this selection.

  43. 2 minutes into the highlight vid, fuck it we drafted the next Larry Bird

  44. Dick and Scottie gonna be the second coming of Bird and Magic on the same team in 5 years.

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