After experiencing a turbulent half-season, the Raptors front office finally made a drastic move to reorganize with young master Scottie Barnes as the core. They also quickly acquired young cores such as Immanual Quickley and RJ Barrett in the trade to cooperate with center Jakob Poeltl who was already on the team. , forming a relatively competitive lineup that lacks only one position, which I think is the Raptors’ X factor this season: Gradey Dick.
As we all know, the current core of the Raptors, Barnes, is an extremely versatile striker with excellent physical fitness. When the space can be opened, it is very easy for Barnes to bully defenders one-on-one with his strong body, but when the opponent When using a wall tactic similar to defending Giannis Antetokounmpo to block his cuts, it is very important to have teammates on the outside who are responsible for opening up space for him. Therefore, Dick became the author’s choice.
Looking at Dick’s performance with the Raptors last season, it can be divided into three periods. The first period was the adaptation stage when he first entered the league, and November was the most representative. In that month, Dick averaged 3.5 points per game with a total shooting percentage of 22% and a tragic score of 20% from three-point range. Fortunately, the Raptors coaching staff also discovered that Dick was seriously lacking in confrontation, so they simply formulated a dedicated weight-gaining training plan for him and were not in a hurry to let him play all the time to lose his confidence.
After entering February, Dick finally raised his physical strength and accuracy to the competitive level of the NBA. He posted a super high-level shooting performance of 55/49/85 in a single month. In addition to his signature outside shooting, Dick is also good at air-cutting. His timing is also quite good, and combined with his excellent finishing coordination at the basket, opponents are afraid of his three-pointers while also preventing him from hitting the penalty area. At the end of the season, as Barnes, Quickley, RJB and others shut down their phones and missed games one after another, Dick’s average playing time soared to 30 minutes per game. At the same time, his workload on the court also increased, which led to an overall decrease in his efficiency, and eventually he was unable to play on the court. He averaged 8.5 points and ended his rookie season with a 36.5% three-point shooting percentage.
Judging from the entire season, Dick’s skill package is indeed very suitable for the current league’s style of play, and he has also shown quite good combat power and potential. Based on the templates of the major media in the draft, they all gave the name of the veteran Mike Miller, which means that although Dick may not necessarily have the ability to hit the stars, he is still quite promising as a multi-functional shooting wing.
Dick’s biggest selling point is, of course, his three-point shooting. With a height of 6 feet 7 and a very high shooting point, combined with the fact that he hardly needs to sink the ball, he is extremely difficult to be disturbed as long as he runs out of neutral on C&S. Throughout the season, his C&S three-pointers are very efficient at 39.3%. The baseline three-pointers of modern basketball also have extremely high levels of 51.1% and 42.6% respectively. These points prove that Dick’s shooting is genuine and is quite suitable as a weak-side ambush for Barnes, RJB and others in singles. What’s a little pity at the moment is that Dick’s efficiency and shooting percentage will plummet in non-C&S situations. This is also a problem if he wants to reverse training and become the second or third leader of the team.
Another impressive thing is that Dick has a very good view of the overall situation on the court. Although limited by his style of play and physical fitness, he is destined to be unable to actively tear down the defense and lead the defense. But when he sees the right opportunity, Always make the right judgment. With the threat of outside shooting, Dick often causes defensive communication errors when going around without the ball. At this time, he will accurately use the floor pass to find the rolling teammate. And his judgment ability can also be used on air cuts. Faced with the opponent’s more aggressive blocking of passes, Dicks can counterattack and take advantage of opportunities in a timely manner. Although his physical fitness is average, his coordination and touch are very good. He is exempt from liability. His inside finishing ability is a very good 60%, and he can adjust his shot by pulling the stick in the air, making his threat on the court not only beyond the three-point line.
Under Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic’s dynamic offensive system that emphasizes off-ball coverage and running, it is very important to have a player with a C&S shooting threat, and in addition to Quickley, the only person in the team who can play this position is Dick. With Darko’s system, with Poeltl and Kelly Olynyk taking turns supporting each other in the high post, as well as the league’s top point forward Barnes and Quickley, who regained his floor control style in the second half of the season, taking turns providing support, I think Dick, who has adapted to the intensity of the league, can use his Shooting skills have become the X factor that is most likely to affect the direction of the Raptors team next season.
