Raptors Explain How Gradey Dick’s Shooting Changed Toronto’s Offense

Gradey Dick let’s let everyone breathe.

Let’s take Dick’s shot in the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night as an example. The sophomore sniper raced across the court as Jamal Shead prepared to throw the ball for the Toronto Raptors. A short screen from Jakob Poeltl stalled Christian Braun for a moment, allowing Dick to intercept the incoming throw and drill a 14-yard mid-range shot over Nikola Jokic.

The play itself put Denver’s three-time MVP in a difficult position.

Had Jokic stepped forward to defend Dick’s shot, the Kansas native could have made an easy pass to Poeltl for a layup. Fearing this option, Jokic thought the mid-range shot was a worse shot than a layup and let Dick do his thing.

That’s the impact Dick has had on the Raptors this season, as the 20-year-old has begun to emerge as a multi-level scorer and floor spacing specialist in Toronto. His off-ball movement and lights-out shooting gave the Raptors options and created room for everyone to grow.

“I think when you have the gravity, the shot that Gradey makes helps everybody,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković told reporters after Monday’s loss to the Nuggets. “The defense is more focused and opens up more space. … It’s all very interconnected.”

Dick’s numbers this season have been staggering. He’s averaging 1.29 points per possession off screens this year. According to NBA StatisticsThe fourth best number in the league so far. He leads the league in mid-range efficiency, shooting 57.7% on mid-range shots, best among those who have made at least 20 attempts this year. And for Toronto, the Raptors have 117.9 offensive points per 100 possessions with Dick on the floor, which ranks among the fifth-best team in the league.

“Now that he’s making these shots so consistently, the defense has to react, sometimes even overreact, and that helps everyone,” Jakob Poeltl told reporters in Denver. “The defense has been able to avoid sinking in some situations against us, (but) Gradey coming off those moves causes a lot of problems for other teams.”

The Raptors use Poeltl and Dick together on a lot of moves; It forces defenders to chase Dick around Poeltl’s screens to create space at the rim or behind the arc for Dick to shoot.

“It frees me up. It frees everyone else up. The defense has to react to it,” said Poeltl, who has seen his points and offensive rebounds increase, thanks in part to Dick’s offensive development. “It forces the defense to follow the ball and it forces other players on the court to help, and yeah, that helps me because it opens up the pocket, I get open chances for offensive rebounds and things like that.”

That’s what Toronto envisioned when selecting Dick with the 13th pick in last year’s draft. The organization was starving for someone with the shooting ability that Dick had and were hoping someone like Dick could clear the floor for Scottie Barnes to move forward. Even without Barnes on the field so far, Dick has shown the proof of concept Toronto has been looking for.