Raptors’ Gradey Dick to Make a Major Leap in Second Season

The Toronto Raptors 2023-2024 campaign was a rocky one, to say the least. The team that entered the season was wildly different from the one they had at the end of the year. This was finally the season that prompted the Raptors to embrace a rebuild in Toronto.

After failing to get it going in the early parts of the year, Masai Ujiri saw the writing on the wall with the core group of players at the time. The first major transaction moved to send OG Anunoby and pieces to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.

After that, the big domino dropped. Ujiri traded Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown and draft picks. Just like that, two of the longest-serving Raptors were gone. There were a few other trades that followed, but none had the gravity of those two.

From there, the Raptors, either intentionally or unintentionally, tanked the rest of the season. Part of the reason the team was so bad in the second half was the hand injury to franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. Nonetheless, Toronto was bad. When the NBA Draft Lottery came around, the Raptors did not even get to reap the rewards of their poor play.

Their top-six protected pick fell to eighth. This officially transferred the first-round selection over to the San Antonio Spurs. This just was not a good year all-around for the Raptors.

However, the second half of the season did display a major bright spot for the Raptors: the continued development of Gradey Dick. After getting off to a slow start, Dick really came on during the second half of the year.

For all that has gone wrong, Raptors fans should take comfort in the fact that Dick should be poised for a breakout season in the upcoming year.

Dick’s Second Half Of His Rookie Year

Gradey displayed major improvements down the stretch of the season

When Dick started off his rookie year, some Raptors fans were quick to push the panic button and call him a bust. He was spending time in the G League instead of the rotation with the top unit. This response is a perfect example of why rookies need patience. Knee-jerk assessments can leave those making them look silly in the long run.

In all fairness, Dick did struggle early on. He was touted as arguably the best shooter in the 2023 NBA Draft. His shot was not dropping with the kind of regularity one would expect from someone of that moniker. On top of that, he was not really lighting the world on fire on the defensive end either.

Even during the struggling periods, there were some positives to take away though. Dick was very good at finding his spots on the perimeter, the shot was just not falling yet. He exhibited some positive traits in making the right reads on his passes too.

The longer the season went on, the less the Raptors were a competitive team, the more opportunity Dick got to play down the stretch. The progress in the later months of the season was extremely encouraging.

Gradey’s shot started dropping. Dick was doing a good job at carving out a role for himself while not always being supported by the strongest of teammates. Barnes, Quickley, and Barrett all dealt with injuries to some capacity down the stretch.

Dick looked like he was really figuring things out the longer the season went on. Next year should offer him an opportunity to shine in an even bigger role when the team is back at full strength.

Gary Trent Jr.’s Impending Free Agency

The departure of Trent Jr. could leave a starting spot open for Dick

One of the biggest offseason decisions for the Raptors will revolve around the future of Gary Trent Jr. He is set to hit unrestricted free agency after opting into his player option last year.

The Raptors were paying Trent Jr. $18.5 million last season. Should they choose to move on from the streaky scorer, they can feel comfortable knowing they have a contingency plan in place.

The vacancy that Trent Jr. would leave at the shooting guard position could easily be filled by Dick next season. One could argue, given the improvements displayed throughout Gradey’s rookie year, that should be the path the Raptors choose.

Trent Jr. is a known commodity and a solid NBA pro. However, for a team in the midst of a rebuild, there may be a desire to see what Dick would look like running with the starters regularly. Should he get the opportunity, Gradey would be well-positioned to build on the solid second half of his rookie season.

A Healthy Raptors Team

Dick would benefit from the names returning to the lineup

Barnes got the rug pulled out from under him when he finally got the opportunity to be the lead guy on the Raptors. His injury ended the third-year forward’s All-Star season.

Barnes got a small sample size of officially being the lead guy on the team after the Siakam trade. What should excite everyone moving forward is the opportunity to have Barnes utilize his playmaking more.

The Raptors will have a whole offseason to properly establish the pecking order on the team with Barnes as their lead man. His assist numbers jumped up from 5.6 assists per game to 7.0, given the brief opportunity to be the guy this past season.

Barnes is an extremely gifted passer for someone of his size and position. With him being featured as the focal point of the offense more next season, Dick should be one of the major beneficiaries of this.

The Raptors’ offense as a whole should be predicated on ball movement and quick decision-making. A player like Gradey who can get himself open on the perimeter consistently and knock down jumpers is likely to be the recipient of a lot of easy looks. He will also have Barnes, Barrett, and Quickley back in the lineup to take a lot of defensive pressure off him.

Bearing everything that has been stated in mind, the stars should really be aligning in Toronto for a big-time second-year season for Dick. It should come as a surprise to no one should they see a healthy jump in scoring from Gradey next season and perhaps some serious consideration for his name to be brought up among the leading candidates for the Most Improved Player award.

Stats are courtesy of Basketball Reference.

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