Former KU wing Gradey Dick erupts for double-double in Raptors’ opener in Las Vegas
No longer a rookie, former Kansas guard Gradey Dick is expected to “take the next step” as a 20-year-old and second-year member of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
“Last year he was just getting his feet wet and learning the pace of the game and what the game brings,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic told media members who cover the Raptors a day before the start of Dick’s second NBA Summer League experience in Las Vegas.
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Wichita native scored 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting in Toronto’s 94-69 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder in summer league action Saturday night. He also had 10 rebounds, good for a double-double in his summer opener.
Dick was 0-for-4 from 3 and 6-of-6 from the line with six assists (against four turnovers) and two steals in 24 minutes. He fell just four assists shy of a triple double.
It was the first of a minimum of five games to be played during Dick’s second summer schedule. He debuted for the Raptors a year ago after being the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
“(This year) I would like to see him be more involved in some on-ball action as well. Offensively, handling the ball a little bit more in the pick and roll. Just trying to open up the next box for him,” Rajakovic said. “I think he’s been putting in a lot of work this summer and those games that we have over here in summer league are a really good checkpoint to see where he makes those strides and improvements, but to also give us information on what we need to focus on for the rest of the summer.”
Dick, who averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds a game in his one-and-done (2022-23) season at KU, has already had an eventful spring and summer. He headed back to his hometown of Wichita to visit family after the last game of the 2023-24 season on April 14.
He ultimately traveled to Lawrence where he took part in workouts with Raptors teammate/KU grad Ochai Agbaji and Raptors assistant Ivo Simovic, who was in Lawrence for some of the workouts. Then it was back to Toronto for workouts with his Raptors teammates.
Like Dick, Agbaji, a third-year pro, started the Raptors’ summer opener Saturday. He scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting with six rebounds and one assist against two turnovers in 24 minutes. He was 1-for-1 from 3.
“No,” Dick told reporters who cover the Raptors, asked if he feels like a veteran. “I’m still feeling very young, still learning a bunch. It’s nice to have the vets that are a lot older here, working out with the team. It’s good. There’s a lot of learning going on.”
Dick said in preparing for his second summer league and second season in the NBA he’s “coming in with the same thought process and mindset I did last year and probably will every single season of my life. That is to come in ready to work and give what I can to the team, whatever the team needs. I think I talked a lot last year about being a sponge, trying to soak up information and knowledge as much as I can. I’m still doing that.”
Dick as an NBA rookie averaged 8.5 points and 2.2 rebounds a game in 60 games (17 starts). He hit 42.5% of his shots and was 88-of-241 from 3 for 36.5%.
“I’m always trying to grow my game. I feel I’ve been talking about it since high school,” Dick said. “I’m trying to not be classified as just a shooter. I’m trying to show my array of my skill set. I got a chance with more minutes last year, unfortunately with the guys out.”
His minutes picked up in January last season as several Raptors went down with injury.
“Fortunately for me, through my preparation, I was ready to show my skill set toward the end of the season,” Dick said.
Putting up 17 shots on Saturday may show he’s eager to expand his game offensively in Year 2.
“I never want to go out there and play a game out of my role and go out there and ‘iso’ or something,” Dick said. “I always want to come in and give the team what the team needs. It is a little different, I guess, because in summer league you might have a little more freedom to show a little more. I think it’s always good to do that in practice — prepare to do that so If you are called on to do that in the regular season you are not a stranger to it.”
He will embrace a starting role if he earns the distinction.
“I mean it’s not really in my mind to be a starter,” he said. “If that comes along with it through my work, that’s good, but at same time it’s the preparation and being as prepared as I can be when I step on the court. I want to be ready to be in any spot I’m asked to do.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Former KU wing Gradey Dick erupts for double-double in Raptors’ opener in Las Vegas."
