Raptors Discuss Gradey Dick's Development & The Road Ahead for the Rookie Shooter
The Toronto Raptors are trying to temper expectations when it comes to Gradey Dick.
It’s always exciting when a rookie enters the fray, especially a lottery pick and one who, by all accounts, should be pretty NBA-ready. Even at 19-year-olds, the Kansas product isn't some raw, moldable prospect with boom-or-bust potential. Rather, he’s a player the Raptors are going to be counted on to provide some much-needed three-point shooting.
That said, even as he prepares for his first NBA game Wednesday night, he and Toronto know the journey ahead will have its ups and downs.
“It's going to be a lot of patience and time,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said of Dick and his development earlier in the preseason.
That might sound like sharp criticism, but the Raptors aren’t coddling the 6-foot-6, 205-pound sharpshooter. The message throughout the team when it comes to Dick has been largely the same: Slow down.
“In the games, he goes way too fast,” said 11-year NBA veteran Dennis Schröder. “But, I mean, when I was at 18, 19 and came here I was only one speed too. So, I mean, that's the process.”
Dick has been receptive to that criticism as he works his way up to NBA game speed. The biggest adjustment, he said, has been navigating the extra space on the NBA court. While the physical court is virtually identical compared to the college game, save for the extended three-point line, the NBA rules create more space compared to the physicality at the NCAA level.
For him, it’s about making the right decisions, understanding when to make the next pass, when to drive, and when to let it fly. Those decisions just come at a much quicker pace when the defenders closing out are bigger, faster, and stronger than anywhere else in the world.
It can take a while for those decisions to come naturally. Schröder, who appeared in just 49 games as a rookie, said he didn’t feel the game slow down until his second NBA season. He said he spent a ton of time reviewing game tape and studying other stars at his position like Mike Conley, Tony Parker, and Kemba Walker.
“There’s not one point where all of a sudden the game slows down, right? It's more like a gradual process,” said eight-year veteran Jakob Poeltl. “You got to just go through all these experiences, you’ve got to almost make all the classic mistakes that most rookies make and then you learn from it and you get in similar situations again, and again, again, and you get better at them every single time.”
Dick knows those errors are coming. The key, he said, is the advice he received from Rajaković earlier this preseason to never get too high and never get too low.
The Raptors are prepared to let Dick take his time. This isn’t some rebuilding team throwing its rookies into the fire and letting them figure out how to play in crunch time. While Toronto isn’t loaded with talented depth, there are enough rotation players on this roster that can fill in while Dick adjusts to the game.
But regardless of how many minutes he plays, shots he makes, or mistakes in the road ahead, Dick said he’s most proud of his ability to take that advice and improve. For the Raptors, that’s what this season is all about when it comes to the No. 13 pick. It’s not about how he looks today or tomorrow, but how much he grows along the way.
