Gradey Dick is walking into opening night with a real chance to change the direction of his NBA career.
The Clippers are short-handed in a way that opens the door for him. Brandon Ingram and Max Strus won’t be available on opening night, and the bench is missing Bradley Beal, Jordan Miller, and Yanic Konan Niederhauser as well.
With everyone except Miller and Niederhauser expected back soon, Dick’s window is clear but not wide. He needs to make it count.
That means doing the little things that keep a coach coming back to a player: moving without the ball, knocking down good shots, holding up defensively, and giving Tyronn Lue a reason to keep him on the floor. If he can’t do that, the Clippers won’t sit around and wait. His expiring contract could be moved by the trade deadline, and the fallout could be worse than a roster shuffle - it could push him out of the league.
Dick’s recent track record doesn’t buy him much breathing room. In his final season with the Toronto Raptors, he put up 6.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game while shooting 41.9% from the field and 30.1% from three. Those numbers already look rough, and they don’t even tell the full story of how much he struggled on defense.
Even so, the Clippers clearly saw enough to give him the benefit of the doubt in the trade that brought him over in the blockbuster deal involving Kawhi Leonard over the summer. Maybe he just needed a new setting.
Maybe the fit in Toronto had run its course. That kind of reset has worked for plenty of young players before, and at 21, Dick still has a path to becoming one of those success stories.
But that path gets narrow fast if he stumbles early. Los Angeles can be a clean slate for young players, but it can also turn cold in a hurry when the roster needs help now. If Dick can’t handle the pressure and prove he belongs, the Clippers may decide he’s better used as trade filler than part of the future.
For now, the opportunity is right in front of him. The injuries have created it. What happens next could decide whether Gradey Dick sticks in the NBA or keeps sliding toward the edge.
In Other News...
Clippers Just Lost More Control In The Kawhi Leonard Saga
Kawhi Leonards return to Toronto is finally official, closing another chapter in a saga that has stretched far beyond the usual trade paperwork. The deal had been held up while the NBA investigated the Clippers salary cap practices, and only after that delay did the Raptors complete the acquisition and move forward with Leonard as the centerpiece of their latest run.
Leonard has already started talking like a player settling back in rather than one still looking back, saying his focus is on learning the team and helping as a veteran presence. For the Clippers, though, the bigger issue is the shrinking amount of control they have left in a story that once seemed centered on them and now feels increasingly out of their hands. [Read more 🡒]