The Gradey Dick Thread Part 2

[HiJiNX]

No need to be alarmed yet. I feel like once it clicks for him it’ll really click.

[ForeverTFC]

I'm honestly a bit confused by some of the reaction here. Folks are begging the team to build around Scottie. Dick was a perfect match for Scottie at that draft slot. It's so weird to see everyone here ask for Keyonte George, a guy shooting .320 from 3, while then going around complaining about the lack of 3 point shooting on the roster.

And all the complaining about draft performance since 2019 also makes no sense. Scottie is looking like the best player in his draft class and we picked him against consensus. I really think folks are forgetting how well Koloko was developing; he was looking like he was going to be a good hit (and hopefully he gets over his health issues). It's far too early to give up on Dick and the only players behind him that would have made some sense for this team is probably JJJ and maybe Hawkins and Podz. Flynn sucks.

[Brinbe]

That he's still shooting/defending poorly in the G-League is concerning as hell. Certainly not shaking the idea that he's still a relative boy playing against men.

We can only hope this changes as he ages/develops physically but his shot being broken isn't good. He may well just be another Luke Jackson, Xavier Henry or Ziaire Williams type that hasn't shown that they can make that leap.

Frustrating that we've had no real contributions from the past few years of drafts to play with Barnes, though obviously they couldn't have foreseen the issues with Koloko.

[pingpongrac]

Holy sh*t is Masai ever racking up the L’s these days.

Literally top to bottom trash since 2019:

FA talent evaluation and signings: F-
Trades: F-
Draft: F-
Coaching hire: TBD but F for now
Player Development: minus Scottie that's an F as well

lol Draft F-? Imagine if we drafted Suggs or Kuminga. Barnes is the best player in the draft which is way way way more important then any late round player you can find that might be a good starter.

For real. As disappointing as Gradey has been (as a 19/20 year-old in like a 20-game sample) and as unfortunate as Koloko's respitory illness recovery has been (as what would have been the 20th pick), the positive (Scottie) weighs that out by a long shot. And as frustrating as Flynn has been for the majority of his career, he actually looks to be morphing into a borderline back-up PG which is a solid pick-up at the end of the 1st round.

All of this talk about "you need a superstar to win in the NBA" then when the FO goes against the grain a bit and takes Scottie, suddenly everyone cares more about the picks outside of the top 10 which are ~90% role players anyway lol.

[Dalek]

5 points 2/10 and 1/6 in 29 mins. Team lost by 5 so it might be fair to say he costing his GLeague teams wins as well.

They need to figure out a plan for him. Not sure what he does to help winning.

[God Squad]

I'm honestly a bit confused by some of the reaction here. Folks are begging the team to build around Scottie. Dick was a perfect match for Scottie at that draft slot. It's so weird to see everyone here ask for Keyonte George, a guy shooting .320 from 3, while then going around complaining about the lack of 3 point shooting on the roster.

And all the complaining about draft performance since 2019 also makes no sense. Scottie is looking like the best player in his draft class and we picked him against consensus. I really think folks are forgetting how well Koloko was developing; he was looking like he was going to be a good hit (and hopefully he gets over his health issues). It's far too early to give up on Dick and the only players behind him that would have made some sense for this team is probably JJJ and maybe Hawkins and Podz. Flynn sucks.

I've never complained about the pick, even though he was never in my list of draft players. But you could look at it like we took the falling knife. We never worked out Gradey Dick, not once. That part scared me.

But I also watched plenty of Gradey at Duke, so it wasn't the end of the world. But again, he wouldn't have been my choice.

[ForeverTFC]

I'm honestly a bit confused by some of the reaction here. Folks are begging the team to build around Scottie. Dick was a perfect match for Scottie at that draft slot. It's so weird to see everyone here ask for Keyonte George, a guy shooting .320 from 3, while then going around complaining about the lack of 3 point shooting on the roster.

And all the complaining about draft performance since 2019 also makes no sense. Scottie is looking like the best player in his draft class and we picked him against consensus. I really think folks are forgetting how well Koloko was developing; he was looking like he was going to be a good hit (and hopefully he gets over his health issues). It's far too early to give up on Dick and the only players behind him that would have made some sense for this team is probably JJJ and maybe Hawkins and Podz. Flynn sucks.

I've never complained about the pick, even though he was never in my list of draft players. But you could look at it like we took the falling knife. We never worked out Gradey Dick, not once. That part scared me.

But I also watched plenty of Gradey at Duke, so it wasn't the end of the world. But again, he wouldn't have been my choice.

I'm pretty sure we did work him out. Givony had said we could be a potential landing spot and that it was possible we move up to grab him. We all just ignored it because Dick isn't the type of prospect you see the Raptors go after very often.

EDIT: Here is the link: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10079280-report-raptors-strong-suitor-for-gradey-dick-if-magic-pass-in-2023-nba-draft

"Dick's draft range appears to be a little wider than initially anticipated, as he'll be conducting workouts with Orlando for this slot, as well as Oklahoma City (No. 12) and Toronto (No. 13)... Should Dick slide past Orlando, Toronto is believed to be a strong suitor."

Givony also wrote that the Raptors could move up on draft night. If they feel Dick is the right addition to their group, it's possible we could see the franchise leapfrog the Magic to grab their guy.

[God Squad]

I'm honestly a bit confused by some of the reaction here. Folks are begging the team to build around Scottie. Dick was a perfect match for Scottie at that draft slot. It's so weird to see everyone here ask for Keyonte George, a guy shooting .320 from 3, while then going around complaining about the lack of 3 point shooting on the roster.

And all the complaining about draft performance since 2019 also makes no sense. Scottie is looking like the best player in his draft class and we picked him against consensus. I really think folks are forgetting how well Koloko was developing; he was looking like he was going to be a good hit (and hopefully he gets over his health issues). It's far too early to give up on Dick and the only players behind him that would have made some sense for this team is probably JJJ and maybe Hawkins and Podz. Flynn sucks.

I've never complained about the pick, even though he was never in my list of draft players. But you could look at it like we took the falling knife. We never worked out Gradey Dick, not once. That part scared me.

But I also watched plenty of Gradey at Duke, so it wasn't the end of the world. But again, he wouldn't have been my choice.

I'm pretty sure we did work him out. Givony had said we could be a potential landing spot and that it was possible we move up to grab him. We all just ignored it because Dick isn't the type of prospect you see the Raptors go after very often.

EDIT: Here is the link: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10079280-report-raptors-strong-suitor-for-gradey-dick-if-magic-pass-in-2023-nba-draft

"Dick's draft range appears to be a little wider than initially anticipated, as he'll be conducting workouts with Orlando for this slot, as well as Oklahoma City (No. 12) and Toronto (No. 13)... Should Dick slide past Orlando, Toronto is believed to be a strong suitor."

Givony also wrote that the Raptors could move up on draft night. If they feel Dick is the right addition to their group, it's possible we could see the franchise leapfrog the Magic to grab their guy.

I stand corrected. My bad

[Madhouse]

role player is his best case.

another wasted pick.

The way Masai is operating, Barnes needs to become top 3 in the world to be even be good jesus.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Like Masai, I thought we got “lucky” that he fell. Look like he probably just really struggled extending his shooting to the nba 3 and then without that, may not be able to play in the league.

Also, like Masai - I probably shouldn’t be the one making these decisions.

You no longer trust Masai to decide who we draft?

I think that’s one of his best abilities but taking as a whole I think this team needs to make some changes - ansd I’m losing/lost till convinced otherwise in Masai ability or motivation to make them.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Crazy we wasted 3 1sts in a row on Koloko Dick Poeltl

That type of thing has been known to set a franchise back so far they created a rule, Ted Stepian? Rule, to prevent it. Masai found a loophole. Reverse Fruitman.

[Dalek]

That he's still shooting/defending poorly in the G-League is concerning as hell. Certainly not shaking the idea that he's still a relative boy playing against men.

We can only hope this changes as he ages/develops physically but his shot being broken isn't good. He may well just be another Luke Jackson, Xavier Henry or Ziaire Williams type that hasn't shown that they can make that leap.

Frustrating that we've had no real contributions from the past few years of drafts to play with Barnes, though obviously they couldn't have foreseen the issues with Koloko.

Ziaire Williams is an interesting guy to mention. He is in the Memphis rotation but he is really up and down in play. Still only 22 years-old so not done being a prospect yet. I always liked his ball skills but his injuries derailed him quite a bit in the lead up to the draft. Ultimately a 6'9 guy who is around 185 lbs is going to have a tough time making it. Also, I was never sure he was a guy overly driven and a leader. He wasn't the best player on his team. The league requires a tough mind plus physical and strength/strong core go along way playing with men.

Gradey is a weak body, and you kind of hope he can add weight to his frame. All his failings seem to be strength related to me. He won't ever be a great defender because he is not super long, but the faded on shots, the falling over on drives, the lack of consistency in making threes show me it is a strength issue. I also don't know how mentally tough he is but time will tell. Reminds me a bit of Malachi Flynn, who had all the skills in college, but the maturity and physicality never fully translated to the NBA.

I laughed at the Luke Jackson reference. If it ends up that bad, we all will be crying over that pick. It seems like Toronto was pretty set on Dick when a lot of their problems would have been solved with Cason Wallace if we just traded up.

[Basketball_Jones]

We’re thinking long term here, so we have to almost ignore what some of the other rooks are doing for now. But yes, one year of production right now from some of the other guys like Keyonte/Podz/Wallace would be nice.

[Raptorfan2012]

Y'all going to keep the same energy the next time Gradey has a good game?

[C_Money]

Holy sh*t is Masai ever racking up the L’s these days.

Literally top to bottom trash since 2019:

FA talent evaluation and signings: F-
Trades: F-
Draft: F-
Coaching hire: TBD but F for now
Player Development: minus Scottie that's an F as well

The one thing that grinds my gears is all the possible trades we’ve been rumoured to have passed on over the years.

Could have got Maxey, Sharpe, and who knows what else. But he won’t part from his guys.

[ItsDanger]

In 7 games, Dick's FG% is 32%. For a lottery pick in the G league, that is horrible.

[alpngso]

Is he Johnny Davis of 2023 Draft? Hopefully he can turn it around in the second half.

[HumbleRen]

Y'all going to keep the same energy the next time Gradey has a good game?

He supposed to be having good games. He should be dominating the G League putting up 30-40 points a night.

Why would I praise him for performing how he should be performing.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Crazy we wasted 3 1sts in a row on Koloko Dick Poeltl

That type of thing has been known to set a franchise back so far they created a rule, Ted Stepian? Rule, to prevent it. Masai found a loophole. Reverse Fruitman.

Drafting busts is pretty common. There's no way to legislate that out of the game.

[aminiaturebuddha]

That he's still shooting/defending poorly in the G-League is concerning as hell. Certainly not shaking the idea that he's still a relative boy playing against men.

We can only hope this changes as he ages/develops physically but his shot being broken isn't good. He may well just be another Luke Jackson, Xavier Henry or Ziaire Williams type that hasn't shown that they can make that leap.

Frustrating that we've had no real contributions from the past few years of drafts to play with Barnes, though obviously they couldn't have foreseen the issues with Koloko.

Ziaire Williams is an interesting guy to mention. He is in the Memphis rotation but he is really up and down in play. Still only 22 years-old so not done being a prospect yet. I always liked his ball skills but his injuries derailed him quite a bit in the lead up to the draft. Ultimately a 6'9 guy who is around 185 lbs is going to have a tough time making it. Also, I was never sure he was a guy overly driven and a leader. He wasn't the best player on his team. The league requires a tough mind plus physical and strength/strong core go along way playing with men.

I laughed at the Luke Jackson reference. If it ends up that bad, we all will be crying over that pick. It seems like Toronto was pretty set on Dick when a lot of their problems would have been solved with Cason Wallace if we just traded up.

Ziaire Williams had a totally different kind of development to Gradey. He was a guy who had a terrible freshman season, but still ended up getting drafted in the lottery (and going higher than most predicted) because one team thought that they would bank on the talent and how highly regarded he was in high school. That would have been more like Dariq Whitehead or Nick Smith from this past draft if someone would have snapped then up in the lottery. Gradey was one of the better freshman ever at Kansas, and started and excelled for a coach who isn't known for giving freshman many minutes, and ended up going in the lower end of his expected draft range.

Also, Cason Wallace was someone the Thunder wanted and moved up in the draft to get. He's the guy I really wanted too, but given the circumstances it seems unlikely the Raps could have drafted him. The Thunder have way more draft assets to move up in a draft than the Raptors do and could easily have outbid the Raps to move up to grab him.