The Gradey Dick Thread Part 2

[AbC?]

But he's not one dimensional, which is why they picked him over a guy like Hawkins. He showed signs of being able to handle the ball as well and attack the rim. What's happened to him is sad and damn near unexplainable. Hopefully in 3 or 4 years we'll all look back and laugh at this, and he's explaining why his rookie year was rough on the JJ Redick podcast.

He really didn’t at all. Not at any level that you could expect to translate to the NBA.

[Reeko]

But he's not one dimensional, which is why they picked him over a guy like Hawkins. He showed signs of being able to handle the ball as well and attack the rim. What's happened to him is sad and damn near unexplainable. Hopefully in 3 or 4 years we'll all look back and laugh at this, and he's explaining why his rookie year was rough on the JJ Redick podcast.

He really didn’t at all. Not at any level that you could expect to translate to the NBA.

Except we've seen flashes of it in the NBA.

[Son Goku 25]

His confidence looks shattered

[HumbleRen]

13th pick. What are we expecting? Booker?...If he becomes a top 7 rotation player on the team the pick will pay dividends imho. Not rough yet. Perhaps one day it will be or not.

Well, Booker was the 13th pick so yeah.

Jokes aside, the expectation was that he was a high floor player with a low ceiling. The fact that he might be a long term project is absolutely rough considering his ceiling is very low to begin with.

Hopefully he can become a solid rotation player for us in the next several years but it’s absolutely rough right now, no doubts about it.

He was drafted as a 19 year old. What kind of production were you expecting? lol.

What any other high floor low ceiling type of rookies provide.

Some spot minutes, any sort of flashes that show he can help in the near future.

[MainEvent]

But he's not one dimensional, which is why they picked him over a guy like Hawkins. He showed signs of being able to handle the ball as well and attack the rim. What's happened to him is sad and damn near unexplainable. Hopefully in 3 or 4 years we'll all look back and laugh at this, and he's explaining why his rookie year was rough on the JJ Redick podcast.

He really didn’t at all. Not at any level that you could expect to translate to the NBA.

Except we've seen flashes of it in the NBA.

when? I must have been sleeping when he did

[Raps in 4]

Should have drafted Bufkin.

Man, Bufkin turning into a star would be so painful. He seemed like the obvious pick at the time since another ballhandling guard was needed considering VanVleet was the only PG in the rotation at the time.

I was so happy when he was available at 13 since there were rumours he was rising up the board and the Jazz could possibly take him at 9. Him working out with SGA during the pre-draft process was also a good sign. Still shocked they passed on him.

Hopefully any Siakam to Hawks deal includes him. Unlikely at this point, but fingers crossed.

Why do people get excited about big G-League games lol? Wallace and Bufkin having 30+ point games in the G-League does nothing for their value. They're still available if we want them. But Masai is certainly aiming higher than that.

[Indeed]

The one time they switch up their strategy and draft a shooter it turns out....he can't shoot.

They're never drafting a shooter again

Flynn was drafted for a similar reason.

Meanwhile, you may thought of Dick being similar to Bane under Darko, but either Darko has his focus in helping Barnes on his 3, or it just doesn't work. I feel George having that pullup 3 would be more the type for Darko.

Regardless, we may have another year or two to determine if Dick can be a NBA player.

[Tripod]

Will Lou and Murphy have said many times that:

They forget how young Dick is until they see his parents in the crowd so often. This is his first time living out of Kansas. Maybe there is a bit of culture shock going on...new city and country.

Said his pregame routine is unlike everyone else's. Instead of working on shots, he is working on lots of ball handling and passing. So clearly trying to develop that more.

He lacks man strength and only time can fix that. Same height as DD but 20 lbs less.

As for shooting, his ft% shows that he should become a good 3pt shooter. And if we can fix Barnes, surely we can tweak Gradey's to make it better. If he can't, maybe he develops that midrange game and becomes a DD...lol.

I am ignoring results this year and want to see what improvements are made over the summer. He knows his career is on the line so I expect him to work his ass off. They added all these development coaches....time to show your worth.

[Anatomize]

Will Lou and Murphy have said many times that:

They forget how young Dick is until they see his parents in the crowd so often. This is his first time living out of Kansas. Maybe there is a bit of culture shock going on...new city and country.

Said his pregame routine is unlike everyone else's. Instead of working on shots, he is working on lots of ball handling and passing. So clearly trying to develop that more.

He lacks man strength and only time can fix that. Same height as DD but 20 lbs less.

As for shooting, his ft% shows that he should become a good 3pt shooter. And if we can fix Barnes, surely we can tweak Gradey's to make it better. If he can't, maybe he develops that midrange game and becomes a DD...lol.

I am ignoring results this year and want to see what improvements are made over the summer. He knows his career is on the line so I expect him to work his ass off. They added all these development coaches....time to show your worth.

I have no problem **** on our players, I have a history of it here if it's warranted. I'll never dump on a 19 year old regardless of their current stats - especially in their first year and in an undefined role.

The issue is that people hear hype during the draft such as "best shooter in his class" or "out of this world shooter" and expect that to be the case first day. Then you see guys like Max Strus or Duncan Robinson or Sam Merrill or Sam Hauser and it's like why did we even bother when most of those guys are either undrafted or second rounders? I didn't feel he was the BPA (though many supporters here did) and I don't like drafting for need. We expected a high floor and someone that could contribute immediately, it makes it worse when you see other rookies contributing and feel you're getting nothing by comparison, so people lash out.

There are people here who want Bufkin in a Siakam trade, Bufkin's stats are equally bad to Dick and I wanted him or Keyonte George (should've been our pick). Bufkin barely plays, Dick barely plays. It is what it is. You wait a few years and see where they're at.

It's also hyperbolic to say "he's fighting for his career". The Raptors will give him a lot longer than that to see if he pans out.

[sbsat]

Im as patient as anyone else but how is iis jumpshot so friggin bad? Its so bad!

[TheAlchemist23]

Im as patient as anyone else but how is iis jumpshot so friggin bad? Its so bad!

His slingshot form isn't translating well in the NBA. Most of the power comes from his arms' slingshot motion rather than the jump, he has to compensate more for NBA distance. I'm guessing the strengthening program he's been on the last few weeks was to help with generating power during the jump motion.

[TheGeneral99]

Will Lou and Murphy have said many times that:

They forget how young Dick is until they see his parents in the crowd so often. This is his first time living out of Kansas. Maybe there is a bit of culture shock going on...new city and country.

Said his pregame routine is unlike everyone else's. Instead of working on shots, he is working on lots of ball handling and passing. So clearly trying to develop that more.

He lacks man strength and only time can fix that. Same height as DD but 20 lbs less.

As for shooting, his ft% shows that he should become a good 3pt shooter. And if we can fix Barnes, surely we can tweak Gradey's to make it better. If he can't, maybe he develops that midrange game and becomes a DD...lol.

I am ignoring results this year and want to see what improvements are made over the summer. He knows his career is on the line so I expect him to work his ass off. They added all these development coaches....time to show your worth.

The issue is that he really needs to work on his shot since he couldn't hit anything all year.

If Gradey could hit 3s at a 35%+ rate he would be in the rotation this season even if he did lack in the ball handling department. The issue is he was brought here as a knock down shooter but he's 11/44 on the season despite a bunch of open looks when he was in the rotation.

During summer league he showed some promise and averaged 14ppg on decent shooting splits, but the NBA speed seems too much for him right now.

[ItsDanger]

The risk that he's a bust has gone up significantly. 32 FG% is really bad for 7 games in G league while watching so many other players post video game stats.

[gbball]

His main issue aside from poor distance shooting is he's not able to create for himself...so he can't get the shots he wants like the guys he's being compared to.

He needs to seriously level up his ball handling ability. He can already shoot off the dribble, but his handle isn't at the point where he can get where he wants. Athleticism and strength are also factors, but ball handling more so.

[Jtoneller1]

https://youtu.be/zqjoB661K0g?si=HG6fHHidMoR2AOn-

Looks like my reaction was prophetic haha

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

[BetterCallSaul]

Doug McDermott was pretty horrible his first year and even second year and he was older and had more hype coming out of college. Now he's a career 41% three point shooter.
If any of you are shooters you know it's really hard when your body and mind are anxious and fatigued. Borderline impossible to hit shots. Unfortunately he's still a skinny anxious kid, despite his Draft Day suit. Let him build his body and let's see where he's at in summer league.

[Chalky_White]

Will Lou and Murphy have said many times that:

They forget how young Dick is until they see his parents in the crowd so often. This is his first time living out of Kansas. Maybe there is a bit of culture shock going on...new city and country.

Said his pregame routine is unlike everyone else's. Instead of working on shots, he is working on lots of ball handling and passing. So clearly trying to develop that more.

He lacks man strength and only time can fix that. Same height as DD but 20 lbs less.

As for shooting, his ft% shows that he should become a good 3pt shooter. And if we can fix Barnes, surely we can tweak Gradey's to make it better. If he can't, maybe he develops that midrange game and becomes a DD...lol.

I am ignoring results this year and want to see what improvements are made over the summer. He knows his career is on the line so I expect him to work his ass off. They added all these development coaches....time to show your worth.

Summer League next summer will be vital for his prospects with the Raptors. If he can't show he can play at summer league level than its likely he out of the rotation again next year and most likely gets passed up as a building block with the team. Not to say he'll never make it in the league, but if it takes him 5 years to be able to play at an NBA level then its almost for certain it'll happen on another team.

He's a lottery pick so he'll be making over 7mil by his 4th season, which is a hefty amount if he's still out of the rotation by that time.

[The Duke]

He won’t be here for long, so we don’t need to put much energy into him

[WuTang_CMB]

the shot is all strength / body related , they know this which is why he's on a program. but he needs to play a lot of games to get up to the NBA speed of the game. He is always rushed and playing catch up. That's all experience and will take time. I know ppl freaking out but lets see where he is at January 2025

[Tripod]

Will Lou and Murphy have said many times that:

They forget how young Dick is until they see his parents in the crowd so often. This is his first time living out of Kansas. Maybe there is a bit of culture shock going on...new city and country.

Said his pregame routine is unlike everyone else's. Instead of working on shots, he is working on lots of ball handling and passing. So clearly trying to develop that more.

He lacks man strength and only time can fix that. Same height as DD but 20 lbs less.

As for shooting, his ft% shows that he should become a good 3pt shooter. And if we can fix Barnes, surely we can tweak Gradey's to make it better. If he can't, maybe he develops that midrange game and becomes a DD...lol.

I am ignoring results this year and want to see what improvements are made over the summer. He knows his career is on the line so I expect him to work his ass off. They added all these development coaches....time to show your worth.

I have no problem **** on our players, I have a history of it here if it's warranted. I'll never dump on a 19 year old regardless of their current stats - especially in their first year and in an undefined role.

The issue is that people hear hype during the draft such as "best shooter in his class" or "out of this world shooter" and expect that to be the case first day. Then you see guys like Max Strus or Duncan Robinson or Sam Merrill or Sam Hauser and it's like why did we even bother when most of those guys are either undrafted or second rounders? I didn't feel he was the BPA (though many supporters here did) and I don't like drafting for need. We expected a high floor and someone that could contribute immediately, it makes it worse when you see other rookies contributing and feel you're getting nothing by comparison, so people lash out.

There are people here who want Bufkin in a Siakam trade, Bufkin's stats are equally bad to Dick and I wanted him or Keyonte George (should've been our pick). Bufkin barely plays, Dick barely plays. It is what it is. You wait a few years and see where they're at.

It's also hyperbolic to say "he's fighting for his career". The Raptors will give him a lot longer than that to see if he pans out.

I 100% agree that he deserves criticism for not hitting open 3's. I, in no way am giving up on him.

To touch on the last line of your comment, let me clarify. After Barnes 1st year, maybe he didn't work as hard as he could have in the offseason, as whispered about. With Dick, he obviously can't do that too. That's what I meant. The sophomore slump often happens because these young kids are enjoying their 1st real offseason....with money. For Dick, this season has been so bad that, I am willing to bet he is in the gym like crazy....and we see him less parading around in the streets and on social media. I think his mindset will be: I gotta fix this ****.