There have been moments this season when it has been easy enough to watch a Raptors game and wonder: What, precisely, did Toronto’s scouting staff see in Gradey Dick?
Sure, the Raptors rookie was an undeniably excellent shooter at the collegiate level, going 40 per cent from behind the arc in one season at Kansas. And yes, he was listed at an appealing six-foot-eight. But after the Raptors selected him 13th overall in last June’s draft, it didn’t take long to make a case the pick was a reach.
Certainly there were players taken after Dick who have proven themselves as more NBA-ready products. Jaime Jaquez, the 18th pick out of UCLA, has been a part of Miami’s rotation from the get-go, averaging 29 minutes a game. Brandin Podziemski, selected at No. 19 out of Santa Clara, is a regular in Golden State’s top seven, combining a three-point threat with an impressive headiness.
Just like the Raptors are still ruing the passing over of Desmond Bane for Malachi Flynn in the 2020 draft — Bane is an entrenched starter with three-point capabilities in Memphis while Flynn, traded before this year’s deadline, is a career bench player scrounging for minutes — there have been moments when it looked as though Toronto could have done better than Dick.
And Dick’s first 20 games in the NBA did little to disabuse anyone of that notion. Over that not-so-glorious span, Dick shot 24 per cent from three-point range while racking up more turnovers than three-pointers.
He interspersed his spot usage in the Raptors lineup with time in the G League, where Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said Dick was focusing on his strength and conditioning — you know, the stuff most pros take care of in the off-season. Not only did Dick play a handful of games in the G League, he wasn’t all that good, averaging 16 points a game while shooting 27 per cent from behind the arc.
So with Toronto’s organization at a post-championship low in the wake of the exits of OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, Dick’s recent NBA upswing has amounted to a much-needed silver lining in a season that has been difficult for fans to get excited about. Finally proving himself worthy of regular minutes, albeit for a bottom-feeding team that will need a late-season sprint just to enter the play-in conversation, Dick has shown some glimpses of why he has the potential to be an important player for the franchise.
And, certainly, if you’re looking at Dick in the best light, you can understand why the Raptors felt inclined to select him. In this era of three-point dominance, where defence has never been so devalued, perimeter shooting is an NBA non-negotiable. And in the seasons that led up to Dick’s draft, the Raptors simply hadn’t employed enough of it.
