A Sobering Look at My Early Season Gradey Dick Takes

 Ah the all star break, I thought about taking one of those myself given there's nothing on in the world of sports right now other than summer league. The Raptors summer league team has kept me pretty entertained though, they have a ton of guards who try really hard on defense which is fun to watch against the lesser competition of summer league. I thought about recapping another summer league game, but there's guys who are better at that doing that right now. I suggest listening to the Hello and Welcome podcast they are my favorites. I thought it might be fun to go back to this article from November 6. If you were an early reader of this blog, you know I was very excited about the stretch where Gradey Dick was essentially the Raptors number 1 option putting up huge numbers. I made 3 comparisons in that article that put Gradey's first 8 games up against 3 future hall of famer's entire second seasons, which is pretty hilarious looking back at it. Now that Gradey has a whole season under his belt, lets make those same comparisons again then see if we're still dreaming big: 

Devin Booker

Ok this one was a stretch even at the time that I posted it. As you can see, Gradey tailed off and is no longer on pace for a Devin Booker career, lol. I still think on the perimeter Gradey has a similar game, he is a really good mid range shooter from a ton of different angles and places on the floor. He can stretch it out to 3 and he has the guts to take tough shots from out there similar to Book. Where they really differ is Booker has a much tighter handle and a far more explosive first step. We saw as the season went on Gradey lost a ton of the weight that he had put on in the offseason. Early on he was able to use his strength to compensate for the lack of first step in getting to the rim. By the end of the season, Gradey wasn't able to get to the cup basically at all, which is a big part of Book's game. We can still dream on this one, but it is most likely very far fetched. 

Klay Thompson

8 games into the season Gradey was blowing Klay out of the water! I said at the time that this is the obvious high end outcome for a shooter. I think pretty clearly in this post we're coming to the conclusion that Gradey is not any of these guys, so lets focus on where he's falling short of these high end outcomes. The big one with Klay is defense. In his prime, Thompson was an elite defender. Gradey Dick is one of the worst defenders in the league and it started to cost him playing time as the season went on. Gradey's defense was actually passable at the time I made that post, mostly because he had gained a ton of weight in the offseason and was able to use his size to stay physical on that end. He wasn't good, but he wasn't a total 0 on that end. As Gradey kept playing and the weight came off he started getting pushed around while also not being quick enough to stay in front of perimeter players. Klay never had this problem, even in his second year. The other thing is Klay is an actual lights out shooter from deep, Gradey is more of a streaky shooter in the NBA at this point. Gradey is the guy who's tasked with taking the tough shots when the team needs it so his percentages do suffer from there, but even on wide open 3s Gradey either has it or doesn't during a game. Where they are similar though is in their movement off ball and confidence. Gradey spends all game running around similar to Klay. He demands a ton of attention from the defense even if his shot isn't falling because he's constantly on the move and ready to shoot. Gradey also never shies away, just like Klay. If there's a shot there for him he's going to launch that thing, which is exactly what you want from your shooter. Still though, if Gradey doesn't improve a ton on defense then this comparison will not be even close. 

Khris Middleton

We finally have someone who Gradey kinda compares to in their second year! I still think this is the best outcome for a guy like Gradey Dick, and the most realistic one I floated. Last year Gradey was money from the mid range, taking a variety of shots that utilized his length to get a shot off over a defender. This is exactly how Khris Middleton plays. Middleton has better footwork than Gradey at this stage of his career, but as we can see from the numbers that took a while to develop and Gradey has time to get there as well. Neither of these guys have a fantastic handle or quick first step, but they're both really good shooters with a high release and the willingness to take tough shots. Khris Middleton was the second best player on a title team, and a big reason for that was his defense is passable. At this stage, Gradey's defense is not passable and he'll need to get there to reach this lofty comparison, but if he does both of these guys have similar offensive skillsets. 

That's that for today! I feel like a lot of people are done dreaming about Gradey Dick, but he's one of the guys on the team with the most sneaky upside in my opinion. He's only turning 22 in November, already showed that he has a lot to his offensive game and he has the length to hope that he can become decent on defense. Conditioning and strength are going to be the key swing factors in Gradey's career. I am hoping that with age he's able to put on muscle more easily and become the best version of himself. An underrated aspect of this season is Gradey now has serious competition. Ja'Kobe Walter is showing that he's already a really good defender while being able to knock down the 3. Rookie Alijah Martin oozes with defensive intensity and he too looks like he's a decent 3 point shooter. RJ Barrett is on a contract year and is best suited at shooting guard, and is just a better player than Gradey at this point. Brandon Ingram operates in the same spaces Gradey did during his best stretch last year and he's far better suited for that role than Gradey is. Gradey's going to need to fight for minutes on this team, and I think that probably bodes pretty well for his development longer term.