Why Raptors’ Gradey Dick is destined for more this season
By the time the Second World War ended, the United States was a mechanized monster at building planes. By the end of the war, they were building hundreds of planes a day on assembly lines, while their Pacific opponent Imperial Japan was building many of their planes by hand, with so many factories having been destroyed. By the end of the war, over half of all industrial production in the world was based in the United States. It was overkill, sure. But better late than never.
It seems as though Gradey Dick’s progress so far this preseason is overkill for what the Toronto Raptors originally needed. Toronto required him to bridge the gap between Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes, to provide the cutting and shooting and movement that could push Toronto’s offence into modernity. That, uhh, didn’t happen in time. Which isn’t his fault, as it’s always folly to lean on a rookie. But it turns out Dick may be a little better than just a bridge between Toronto’s (former) twin poles.
I wrote this before last season about Dick’s role on the Raptors.
“But he is built to fill the exact need the Raptors have. Siakam and Barnes need to be weaponized, and Dick is the ideal threat — he is the powder Toronto needs to pack inside the cannon. Dick will be very hard to keep off the court, largely because so few other players on the roster are able to complement the foundations in Barnes and Siakam to the same extent. Expect him to play 25 minutes a game by the new year — the team will simply need him on the court. Perhaps there are roster changes, and Toronto will acquire other players who can do the same job but with fewer growing pains, allowing Dick to develop slower and with fewer responsibilities. Perhaps the very players Dick best complements will no longer be Raptors.”
That didn’t entirely come true. His shot didn’t start dropping consistently until late in the year, and by then, the Raptors had been dynamited to bits. He never got his chance with Siakam, at least not when he was playing well. Maybe he’s ready now, although if he is, it is for an entirely different role.
Every stat in the book has increased for Dick from last year’s season to this year’s preseason. His efficiency, the same story. But it’s not just the stats. Preseason is the time for stat inflation for young, offensive-minded players. It’s how he’s playing. Dick has been firing triples with abandon, not waiting to be open. And he’s making them. His 12.4 3-point attempts per 100 possessions is a jump from last season and within the top 50 marks so far in preseason. And they’re coming from more movement, from deeper, and in more complex ways. For example: last season, 39 percent of his triples came from the corner. This preseason it has dropped to 15 percent. His shot diet is now much more complicated.
For the Raptors, a simple pindown screen for Dick is an offence in and of itself. That has incredible value, both as a late-clock high-value bailout, and an early-clock entry action to move the defence and create advantages for teammates. With his size, range, and quick trigger, he can pull a Klay Thompson by jetting into a handoff out of the corner and launching the second he turns around.
Because Dick is always cutting, that shooting has been transmuting into layups for him. The best shooters capitalize on their abilities by always cutting, and Dick is no exception. Step up on him? Bang. Backdoor. He finishes his denied handoffs and other above-the-break cuts by continuing into the paint, often turning the defence’s overplaying into a step going towards the rim. Toronto’s bigs, especially Jakob Poeltl, never miss those passing opportunities. It’s in many ways what Darko Rajakovic’s offence is built to exploit. And Dick’s size means he’s finishing those cuts well.
In fact, the finishing is one of Dick’s largest (to-this-point) improvements over last season. His 61.5 per cent from within five feet is a jump from last season’s 57.4 per cent — and on almost double the frequency. He has tossed in finger rolls over contests, off-hand off-foot scoops from distance, reverses, and everything in between. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough to add elements to his game. In his opening contest in preseason, he shot 0-of-4 from deep — and still finished with 10 efficient points, as he attacked the rim, drove without hesitation, and finished through crowds. He’s been running in transition too, and not just to the 3-point line, but continuing his helter-skelter dashes to the rim.
He’s doing more on the court, and he’s doing more with those extra components of involvement. His cutting, finishing, shooting, and entire package of skills means the Raptors can build more complex stuff around him. Jetting around pindowns is a great way to involve a corner shooter, and that’s mostly how Toronto used Dick last year. This preseason, he’s done much, much more. Right down to involving him as a tertiary creator.
Here the Raptors ran — get ready for it — Ochai Agbaji as a ghost screener, then running off a flare screen to jet into a blind pig action in the corner with Jakob Poeltl, who rejects the handoff to turn into a second-option handoff with Dick, who had spent that first half of the play running off a staggered pindown from the opposite corner. Whew! Lemme catch my breath. One second. Okay. Then Dick eased his way through the moving defence like an old man into the bath for as easy a jumper as you can get on the NBA court.
“I believe Gradey is much more offensively than just a spot up shooter.” Rajakovic said after Tuesday’s preseason game. “So everything that’s coming out of cuts and drives and slip outs – that needs to develop, and pick n’ roll is going to come along as well.”
Dick was finishing fewer than 0.5 possessions per game as a pick-and-roll handler last season. That should jump up this year, particularly if Rajakovic is going to call plays like the Indiana Pacers. The NBA over the last half decade has evolved so that stationary shooters are no longer able to contribute to NBA offences without doing more. Dick can do much more. Again: he is not just shooting corner triples this season. He won’t always get to the rim when he’s handling, and he still needs to improve as a passer (though it has been improved already in preseason), but if he’s going to attack after the offence has already discombobulated defences like that, good things should happen.
Defensively, he’s still far from ready. He’s in the right spots mostly, and he puts in effort, but players can go through him. To be fair, the aggression has been very good. He has fit into the scheme and attacked the ball and denied cuts. He has forced negative dribbles. But drives still reach the rim when Dick is in front. That’s a problem, and it’s one that can really only be solved by more muscle, more weight, and more time.
Time he has, and it’s something the Raptors are willing to give. Dick is young, and the Raptors want him on the court right now. He’s just been too good offensively, at too many things that other Raptors lack, for him to be on the bench. And when he is bigger and stronger, his defensive awareness, hands, and aggression will mean much more. He might actually be a positive defender then.
And offensively, Dick is looking like much more than a shooter. Or even a bridge. He and Barnes have shown exceptional chemistry during their time together this preseason, with Barnes looking for Dick as a cutter, a shooter, a teammate. They only played 339 minutes together last season, and it didn’t go well. But with Dick’s improved arsenal, he in some ways unlocks Barnes’ abilities to drive deeper, pass to opener shots, and altogether sow chaos. This may not have been the vision originally, but it’s starting to look like more and more of one going forward.
Dick isn’t bringing Siakam and Barnes together anymore, if he ever was. Now he is pushing Barnes further. Dick is no longer a bridge for Toronto’s past. He is now a bridge to the future. Maybe it’s coming later than Toronto would have liked, but it’s also perhaps surpassing what Toronto originally needed.
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