Raptors Explain How Gradey Dick's Shooting is Changing Toronto's Offense

The Toronto Raptors are seeing Gradey Dick's shooting create space for everyone to operate with a little more offensive efficiency this season

Nov 2, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick (1) reacts after a play against the Sacramento Kings during the second half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Gradey Dick let’s everyone breathe.

Take the jumper Dick made in the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night just as one example. The sophomore sharpshooter sprinted the width of the court as Jamal Shead prepared to inbound the ball for the Toronto Raptors. A brief screen from Jakob Poeltl stalled Christian Braun for just a moment, allowing Dick to catch the inbound and fire a 14-foot mid-range jumper over Nikola Jokic.

The play itself forced Denver’s three-time MVP into a predicament.

Had Jokic stepped up to defend Dick’s jumper, the Kansas native would have had an easy pass to Poeltl for a layup. Afraid of that option, Jokic figured a mid-range jumper is a worse shot than a layup and let Dick do his thing.

That’s the impact Dick has had on the Raptors this season as the 20-year-old begins emerging as a multi-level scorer and floor-spacing savant for Toronto. His off-ball movement and lights-out shooting have given the Raptors options and created space for everyone to thrive.

“I think it’s helping everybody when you have the gravity, the shooting that Gradey is bringing,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković told reporters following Monday’s loss to the Nuggets. “The defense is more focused and it’s opening up more space. ... All of that is very interconnected.”

The numbers for Dick this season have been startling. He’s generating 1.29 points per possession off screens this year, per NBA Stats, the fourth-best number in the league so far. He leads the league in mid-range efficiency, shooting 57.7% on mid-range jumpers, the best of anyone with at least 20 attempts this year. And for Toronto, the Raptors have an offensive rating of 117.9 points per 100 possessions with Dick on the court, a number on the fifth-best overall in the league.

“Now that he’s making those shots very consistently, the defense has to react and sometimes even overreact to it and it’s helping everybody else,” Jakob Poeltl told reporters in Denver. “In some situations against us, the defense gets away with going under, (but) when Gradey is coming off these actions it’s causing a lot of problems for other teams.”

The Raptors have been using Poeltl and Dick in a lot of actions together, forcing defenses to chase Dick around Poeltl's screens in order to create space either at the rim or behind the arc for Dick to get shots off.

"It frees me up. It frees everyone else up. The defense has to react to him,” said Poeltl who has seen his scoring and offensive rebounding improve thanks in part to Dick's offensive development. “He’s forcing the defense to trail him over the top and forces other guys on the court to help out and, yeah, it’s helping me because I’m getting open in the pocket, I’m getting open chances for offensive rebounds and stuff like this.”

This is what Toronto had envisioned when they selected Dick with the No. 13 pick in last year's draft. The organization had been starving for someone with the shooting ability Dick possesses and was hoping someone like Dick would be able to open the floor for Scottie Barnes moving forward. So far, even without Barnes on the court, Dick has shown the proof of concept Toronto was looking for.