Gradey Dick brings Raptors shooting they need and blast of positivity

Article content

The Raptors didn’t just get the best shooter in Thursday’s NBA draft, they got another injection of life into what had become a bit of a lifeless locker room.

Article content

Gradey Dick, the one-and-done shooting wonder of the Kansas Jayhawks, fell just enough in the draft to wind up a member of the Toronto Raptors who were picking 13^th.

Article content

Dick is widely and close to unanimously considered the best pure shooter in the 2023 draft which suits the Raptors just fine.

As a team that shot just 45.9% from the field (27^th out of 30 teams) and just 33.5% from three (28^th out of 30 teams) improved shooting is a real focus of this off season.

Article content

Also a focus was a better locker room.

Fortunately for the Raptors Dick addresses both.

His bona fides as a shooter go back to his high school days. The 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year in the U.S., Dick has been a scorer at every level he has ever played.

Those who know him though paint a picture of not just a guy who knows how to consistently put the rock in the hole, but a guy whose up-beat disposition lifts everyone around him.

Article content

Article content

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

His sense of fun was readily apparent on draft night when he arrived at the draft in a sparkling ruby red suit jacket he said was an homage to fellow Kansas icon Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz.

Kansas head coach Bill Self laughed knowingly at the antics of his one and down sharpshooter.

“That’s one thing about Gradey,” Self said. “He wasn’t trying to be the best-dressed guy there. He was trying to be the guy who got the most hits on his social media (platforms).”

Not surprisingly Gradey has already connected and actually face timed with Raptors forward Scottie Barnes. The two share the same representation and got to know each other a little at a pre-draft camp in Santa Barbara last summer. 

Like Dick, Barnes is very much into his own branding through social media and a guy with a positive outlook who loves basketball and makes no bones about the fact that he has fun playing it.

Article content

Finding a fit in Toronto should not be a problem for Dick.

Dick’s only Toronto workout was one of his last but also the one that made the biggest impression.

“I couldn’t think of a better place for me to get drafted,” Dick said. “Just the city and the people combined, it’s just amazing.”

Self has no doubt that Dick will make an immediate impact. 

“He just has to be himself,” Self said. “I don’t think he has to be anything different than who he is and that means just compete hard, be very coachable which he always is and just do the things that he has basically done. He doesn’t have to go in there and try to be anything different. 

“They are going to need him to be a producer for them,” Self said. “He’ll have to take a very professional approach to it, which I know he will, and I actually think it’s a great fit for him.”

Article content

If there is one question about Dick, it’s how he’ll cope defensively as he makes the jump to the professional ranks. In the pros, there’s no hiding one’s limitations and if that happens to be your defence, chances are teams are going to attack you non-stop.

Raptors general manager Bobby Webster doesn’t sound overly concerned.

“He’s a smart positional defender,” Webster said. “Obviously that is kind of where his IQ comes in. He knows what he is. He will probably tell you he’s limited to some extent one-on-one with the high-level athletes, but he played in the Big 12 so he’s played against the top kids his entire high school and college career so I think he knows how to play against guys that may be bigger or faster.”

Self had a different take on things when Dick’s defence was brought up. 

Article content

“I think he’s long,” Self said. “He’s a legit 6-8 and he’s got length. He can slide. I don’t think that is what he does best … yet. But I do think he’ s a very adequate defender and played to his athleticism and his length. He did a much better job for us as the season went on but what he really does is he makes shots. That’s what he really does.”

Self wasn’t initially convinced Dick had the game to jump to the pro ranks after just one season, but that feeling didn’t last long.

“I never thought Grady would be a one and done,” Self  said. “I thought it would take him two. But after the Duke game, I mean the last three baskets we scored were a three in transition (from him) , he beat a guy off the bounce and finish at the rim and then it was a lob dunk off a backdoor cut. I knew right then we would only have him in Lawrence, Ka.  for a few months.”

Article content

And now he’s on his way to Toronto where he’ll do the media rounds on Monday and then head out to Vegas where he is expected to joining Toronto’s summer league team.

WHAT HAPPENED TO TRADING UP

In the days leading up to the draft there was a strong suspicion that the Raptors would find a way to move up in the draft based on the handful of teams with picks that were looking for something a little more NBA-experienced than a draft pick.

Raptors watchers were focussed on the No. 3 picks belonging to a Portland Trail Blazers team that was trying to appease and mollify point guard Damian Lillard who was looking for some NBA-ready help.

Portland though opted to hand onto the pick. Perhaps affecting that decision was a report from Chris Haynes at Bleacher Report that Pascal Siakam, a would-be trade fit with the Blazers, was warning teams that might acquire his rights that he would not be re-signing with them.

His sole interest is in remaining in Toronto.

POST DRAFT ACTION

The Raptors didn’t have a second-round pick in last night’s draft but they were able to acquire 5-foot-8 guard Markquis Nowell. Nowell played with the Kansas St. Wildcats and set an NCAA record for assists during the Wildcats run. He signed a two-way contract with the Raptors.

[email protected]

Article content