Style and Substance: Raptors' Gradey Dick displays maturity after draft-day flair

There is substance to go along with that style.

At some point the Toronto Raptors and Raptors fans will get see how good an NBA player Gradey Dick can be and get a feel for how long it will take before the 19-year-old taken 13^th overall in the 2023 draft can be a meaningful part of a rotation on a decent team.

The first indications will come at Summer League in Las Vegas and then later on during the pre-season. As a lottery pick, Dick will get his chances to prove he can stay afloat in an NBA game sooner than later during the early weeks of the regular season. And given that part of the mandate for Raptors incoming head coach Darko Rajakovic is to foster an environment where young players can develop and prosper, efforts will be made to make sure the opportunities aren’t rare.

But whether he can really play and contribute to a team that is thinking playoffs as a rookie?  It could be a while before that’s apparent or not.

So on the absence of meaningful action, we’re only left with words.

Dick spoke his share as he made his first official appearance as a Raptor Monday morning at the OVO Athletic Centre, having already been put through a workout with Rajakovic.

And while no one gets drafted because of what they say or don’t and his career will ultimately turn on his ability to be an effective on-court presence, Dick certainly didn’t hurt his cause on his first day as a Raptor and gave a little bit of insight into what impressed the Raptors to the point where he became their preferred candidate to take with just their second lottery selection in seven years.

The kid from Wichita has an evident level of maturity that should serve him at least as well as his quick-release jumper or his knack for finding seams in the defence when moving off the ball. He made a point of communicating as much to the Raptors executives and staff in the pre-draft process.

“I think the biggest thing that I tried to try to get across to them and let them know [was]  that the main priority on the court and if I ended up in the city of Toronto was really just coming into it being the most selfless dude I can be,” said Dick, whose parents, Bart and Carmen, were looking on from the front row as their youngest son spoke. “[I tried] to really explain to them that I'm coming into it, obviously being a rookie, I just want to just be that sponge. I want to be the guy that perfected any role that he was given. Whatever coach gives me, I’m on side with. I achieved my dream but knowing that it's not the end goal, this is just the start to everything. And just keeping that mindset where I'm never content with anything. And just trying to show that I'm ready to come in and work right away was what I tried to get across.”

How quickly Gradey Dick can leverage the benefits his off-ball movement and the attention he could conceivably command (presuming his 40-per-cent conversion rate on three-pointers he managed as an NCAA freshman transfers to the NBA) will be a work in progress.

It’s a tall order: Only a handful of NBA rookies have shot at least 40 per cent from deep while making at least 1.5 threes per game, and it’s an even shorter and more impressive list for players doing it in their age 21 season or younger. It includes Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Tyrese Haliburton, Mike Miller, and Paul Pierce, or three sure-fire Hall-of-Famers (Curry, Thompson, and Pierce), a former rookie-of-the year who played 17 seasons (Miller), and one of the best young players in the sport (Haliburton).

But it was interesting — and hopefully telling — when Dick was asked about who he models his game after that it was the process as much as the production of his role models that caught his eye. He admires the way the likes of Reggie Miller, Klay Thompson, and Curry — to name, arguably, the three best deep shooters in the history of basketball — worked to find opportunities to be open and score. None of them were flat-footed expecting teammates to get them open. Instead they used their energy, smarts, and willingness to move tirelessly to find seams in defence and create the split second needed to take advantage.

It's not easy though.

“One of the most underrated things, and something I’m getting better at, too, is … how underrated conditioning is [for shooters],” said Dick.  It’s so true, you watch them without the ball and how conditioned they are to get the other team exhausted to shoot their volume of shots. It’s definitely something I was even doing the other day, just running back and forth shooting threes and just getting tired. I watch that film and see how to input it into my game.”

Dick’s personality is evident, and clearly pretty fun. He said his initial plan was to pair his shimmering, red-sequined draft night jacket that was the talk of social media with a matching pair of pants, rather than the more understated black pair he went with. Turns out the red-sequined pants didn’t quite fit.

“I kind of toned it down,” Dick said. “But they still came in pretty loud.”

And being the centre of attention isn’t an issue for him. As a star player with a last name that invites jokes and chants, he never shied away when opposing crowds start bringing the heat. He’s heard it all before and comes out firing.

His coach at Kansas, Bill Self, said he figured the slender, 6-foot-8, 205-pounder might take two years at the college level before being ready to make the jump to the NBA, but knew Dick was ready when his star freshman scored seven points in two minutes to secure a win over Duke in a match-up of high-profile programs back in November. Dick drained a deep three, caught an alley-oop and finished with a slam before, driving the lane himself for the score. Game over.

“I knew right then that we were going to only have him for a few months,” Self said in a conference call on draft night. “Right there was probably the moment I realized what people would think of his talent.”

The bigger the stage, the more hostile the environment, the more Dick likes it.

“With my personality … fans are going to get into me with some stuff. But that's what I like the most. That's what kind of brings out the competitive spirit, is when I have the excitement around,” he said. “I love all of it because, I mean, I’m focused, you know. The priority is the game and getting as prepared for that as I can … but then after a miss you start hearing some chanting of some aggressive language. But I think that it really just kind of fuels that fire … just being that villain for those away games.”

The proof is in the numbers: Dick shot a higher field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage on the road than at home or on a neutral court. Substance over style on a box score.

There are plenty of unknowns to be sorted out and college basketball is a long way from the rigours of the NBA. But in his very brief time as a Toronto Raptor, Dick has shown at the very least that, flash aside, he worthy of being taken seriously.