Gradey Dick may be on the move, and if the Raptors finally send him to the Clippers, the next stop won’t come with any guarantees.
Dick has reportedly welcomed a trade out of Toronto after a frustrating third season, one that saw him slip out of Darko Rajakovic’s rotation. A fresh start would make sense for him. But even if he lands with the Clippers, ESPN currently has him fourth on their shooting guard depth chart, behind fifth overall pick Keaton Wagler, Bradley Beal, and Benedict Mathurin.
Beal signed with the Clippers just a few days ago, while Mathurin remains a restricted free agent, so that picture could still shift. Even so, the message is clear: this would not be a soft landing. Dick would still have to fight for every minute.
The Clippers’ roster is also headed in a new direction with Darius Garland and Keaton Wagler joining the team and Leonard hopefully going to Toronto. That could create a better path for Dick than staying with a Raptors team trying to compete with the league’s best and a coaching staff that lost faith in him last season.
But a new environment alone won’t fix everything. He’d still be battling plenty of talent for a steady role, and a bounce-back year is far from automatic.
Toronto took Dick 13th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, banking on him becoming a 3-point specialist for a team that badly needed one. The early returns were encouraging enough: he hit 36.5% of his threes as a rookie. By his third season, though, that number had fallen to 30.1% as his role shrank.
And when the shots aren’t dropping, Dick doesn’t offer much else to offset it. He also failed to meet the Raptors’ defensive standards, which helped push him out of the picture.
At this point, Toronto’s decision to spend a lottery pick on him looks rough. If he does end up being part of the Kawhi Leonard deal, that would soften the blow for the Raptors, but it wouldn’t erase the pressure on Dick himself. He needs a strong season soon or he risks getting labeled a draft bust and settling into an end-of-bench career path.
There’s still reason to believe a turnaround is possible. Dick has already played three seasons, but at 22, he’s young enough to reclaim the promise he showed in college. Whether that happens may come down to how he handles this next opportunity - because he may not get many more.
In Other News...
Raptors May Already Have An Immanuel Quickley Dilemma In House
Immanuel Quickley has settled into the sort of steady, useful role the Raptors hoped for when they brought him in, but his production has also left Toronto in an awkward middle ground. He has been consistent without fully matching the kind of impact that usually comes attached to a major investment, which is why the conversation around his place in the lineup is starting to widen beyond simple box-score production.
Jamal Shead is one reason that conversation is getting louder. The rookie has not put up eye-catching shooting numbers, but his playmaking and defense have already given the Raptors a different sort of point guard profile to consider, one that may fit better with where the team wants to go. Toronto has not made any decisions, but the fact that this debate is already happening in-house says plenty about how quickly the guard picture could change. [Read more 🡒]
RJ Barrett Faces A Huge Raptors Test Before His Future Is Clear
RJ Barrett has made no secret of wanting to stay in Toronto for the long haul, and on paper the fit still makes sense for a Raptors team trying to keep building around its young core. But the business side is not as simple, especially with the front office navigating a cap picture that already has commitments on the books and could get tighter if the roster is adjusted further.
That leaves Barrett heading into next season with a clear opportunity and a clear test. He will need to show more of what he can bring when Kawhi Leonard is unavailable, giving Toronto another look at how he handles a bigger load and how much he can tilt the team's plans in his favor before any long-term decision comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]