Gradey Dick is moving onto new expectations
One of the great runners in all of the NBA is Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, at 2.67 miles traveled per game (tied for 7th highest in the NBA). Movement around the NBA is getting more and more important as teams try to maximize everything they can, and Barnes’ teammate Gradey Dick is looking to join him in the elite class of movers. He’ll never match Barnes, who roams and marauds on defense, lying in wait for opportunities to make game-changing defensive plays, though. Dick likes to move in shorter spurts on that end to avoid mistakes or not let his feet leave him behind faster players, and he used to move in short spurts on offense – trying to read the floor and find space.
This year, if preseason is any indication, Dick will be in constant motion. It’s not just the short spurts anymore, a flash cut here, a pin-down there. It seems that the Raptors have built Dick into the offense in new ways that require constant motion. Even if he sprints to the corner, he’ll be sprinting out of it and up court for a chicago or miami action, a weak-side exchange, or into a darling play taken from UCONN’s Dan Hurley – Horns Skip/Slip Chicago.
All that running, well, it requires a lot of cardiovascular constitution. Oddly enough, the first conversation I ever had with Gradey, was about just that. “The court, it’s kind of underrated. People don’t understand how coming from a high school and college court, then coming here, there’s a lot more space.” Dick told me back in the summer of 2023. “But, I like having that for my game and what it opens up. In college you beat a defender, you get past, it’s everyone coming in and playing team defense, so, just being able to do that and the conditioning to do that is important and something I’m still working on.”
We’re 15 months — and a couple exercise/weight programs — removed from that conversation, and while there’s no exact metric to say that Dick is handling the running and physicality better, he is. “Talking to Coach Darko and Ivo, you know, the biggest emphasis was the defensive side and that kind of helping me propel into my offensive side. Every timeout they’re telling me how many deflections I’m getting, and after a couple of those I think that’s really improving my energy going into the offensive side. When I do that, I can kind of show more versatility to my game.” Dick said.
His jumpers in preseason were defined almost completely by motion, as far as jumpers go. He shot 7/10 on movement mid-range shots, 3/11 on movement threes, and 9/24 on standstill threes. Not to mention, he shifted a huge heap of his shots above-the-break – where he shot 39-percent (11-28). This comes after he had a tremendous second half of the season shooting the ball – and in motion.
Darko Rajakovic said of his sophomore: “He intrigued me from the start. Thinking what kind of player he can be in the future, and how to maximize his potential.”
Rajakovic was echoing what Bobby Webster said on draft night so long ago. “I think we had Gradey in kind of his own– his own group. But, yeah, there was a– you know, I’m sure we’ll see how it all plays out over the next couple years. I think, probably, the size, shooting IQ, probably stood out a bit.” said Webster. “He’s not just a shooter. I think, you know, he knows how to play off the ball. He knows how to make, you know, backdoor cuts. He can pass well. He rebounds well. So I think he’s, you know, more of a well-rounded player, even though he’s probably going to get pegged early as just a shooter.”
By the way, above-the-break shooting is significantly more important than the corners. It allows drives to either side of the court against aggressive closeouts, it drags defenders away from the baseline and the rim, creates way more playmaking opportunities and for teambuilding purposes – it allows weaker shooters to occupy the corners where they might actually be able to hit a shot. It’s a huge deal that Dick is shaking his shot chart up and hitting well from there. Also, six of his eleven made triples from ATB came a full step or further from behind the line. Stretching the floor indeed.
“Gradey stretches out the floor. He brings a lot of attention. People are gonna have to respect him shooting the ball. That’s what he does.” said Barnes. “You know, being able to get downhill, or spread it out for threes or running actions for him, it’s just going to help our team out so much with the shooting and spacing the floor.”
Of course, shooting and spacing the floor isn’t the only way that Dick is able to help the Raptors. Those long, aggressive closeouts we talked about? He’s driving them. When players try and wall off the screens he’s taking up court? He’s back cutting them. He’s planting screens as often as possible (and has been the lynchpin back screener in spain actions). His touch at the rim has always been elite — even if the strength deficiencies (relative to other NBA players) make it hard for him to hold his ground there — and we’re seeing a vast array of finishes that include finger rolls with both hands over outstretched defenders, high kisses off the glass, and the reverse package has been on display for ages now.
“It’s definitely a talent, to know when to cut and when not to.” Gradey told me. “But, it’s really just watching your point guards, and guys with the ball in their hands. It’s playing off of them, seeing where they’re at on the court, if you can cut, try to open up the floor for them. Most of the time you’re not really cutting for your shot, you’re cutting to open up someone else’s. Hopefully that opens up space for you. At the end of the day, the more movement the better. If you’re kind of hesitating whether you’re gonna cut or not, most of the time you’re a second too late. It’s more about getting out there, moving around the court and trying to make shots for everyone else.”
Do teammates appreciate players who make the burn cut? “Of course.” Gradey said. “Extra movement gets people excited. You want to move on the court. You want to make defenses have to change stuff up.”
What the Raptors try and do with Dick, will rely solely on his ability to sprint and slam into people while still maintaining the stamina to get up shots and make reads. Because, with how Dick reads the floor, how he tugs and pulls at the defense, you may as well just throw him into every set action you can – and the Raptors basically have been in this preseason. It looked good when he was creating space for Ochai Agbaji and Davion Mitchell, imagine how good it’ll look when RJ Barrett & Immanuel Quickley are back in the swing of things?
“He’s already working on some stuff that I’m not allowing him to use in games yet.” Rajakovic said. “He needs to go through those repetitions in workouts. He needs to go through those in practice, in play groups, in all those situations vs coaches vs players before I say ‘okay, now let’s see what it looks like in a real NBA game.'”
So, while a preseason where Dick shoots 43-percent from the floor and 34-percent from three might not seem like something to brag about? It’s the process of things, the in-between that sells it. It’s represented easily by the fact that he’s taking twice as many shots and scoring more than twice as many points as last preseason. It’s more evident by the way you can’t miss him on the floor, because he’s involved in everything. We’ll see the stamina this year, with a good mix of movement shooting, finger rolls, and standstill, brash 26-foot pulls. Should be a blast.
Have a blessed day.
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