Gradey Dick's Next Step Will Come With The Pass

11/21/2024 10:00 AM

About a month ago, I asked Raptors Head Coach Darko Rajakovic about what specific skill he’s looking for Gradey Dick to maximize moving forward. His answer surprised me:

“I think that Gradey has a very good feel to pass the ball. I think that’s a very underrated skill that, a lot of times, is easily overlooked because of all the other things that he does. It just intrigued me from the start, thinking of what kind of player he could be and how to maximize his potential.”

Naturally, coaches see things materializing in players well before the general public. So now, in hindsight, after watching Gradey leap forward as a three-level weapon for the Raptors, it all makes sense. He’s refining his touch around the basket, attacking closeouts with tenacity, operating in the mid-range at a high level, and capably shooting the 3-point shot; it only seems natural that with all the added attention, the next step is to elevate his game as a passer.

Duh, Darko Rajakovic. Duh.

After enjoying a month during which Gradey broke his career high in points on four different occasions, the scout is out. The old adage is that “he’s moved up on the scouting report,” and that’s been the case over the last week or so. Teams are throwing their best off-ball defenders on him; they now know Gradey’s tendencies, his spots, and what the Raptors like to run for him, specifically their Spain Leak action and their staggered pin-down grenade play on BLOBs.

The Celtics, particularly, did a really good job of game planning for Gradey. Watch Jaylen Brown anticipate this pass, with Derrick White trailing behind, ready for the contest. That’s understanding the assignment.

Teams have consistently tried to run Gradey off of the 3-point line—this isn’t anything new; it’s why he’s been so potent, shooting 55 percent on drives—but as driving lanes fill up, he’ll have to continue developing his feel as a passer. You can only do so much yourself, and after the diminishing returns for individual scoring kick-in, it’s time for the ball-handler to kick out.

That passing development has come in a few different forms over the last year or so, and as Gradey has seen the added attention, we’ve already seen him stretch his legs in his department.

First, the drive-and-kick.

Next, the pump and dump. Because of Gradey’s shooting ability, teams are often willing to switch off-ball actions, especially pin-downs, which usually give the screen-setter a mismatch in the post.

He’s already developing a knack for creating an easier passing window by using the pump fake in these situations.

Dick is also a talented connector and transition passer. We’ve already seen him connect with his teammates this season on highlight plays.

The abovementioned plays have been part of Gradey’s repertoire since his rookie season. But you need to develop your own ability to threaten the rim before those passing lanes open; his added scoring prowess has only helped weaponize his vision. But the real development, at least recently, has been with the more progressive reads.

Gradey’s assist numbers aren’t eye-popping by any means—a measly 2.4 assists per game and just fewer than two turnovers a night. He only passes out of 25 percent of his drives. He’s had just 29 possessions as the pick-and-roll ballhandler, according to Second Spectrum.

Still, in those little opportunities, Gradey is starting to shake out what he’s been working on in practice.

“He’s already working on some stuff that I’m not allowing him to use in the game yet. He needs to go through those repetitions in workouts. He needs to go through those in practice, in playgroups, in all of those situations, versus coaches, versus players, before I say, ‘Okay, now it’s time. Let’s see what it looks like in a real NBA game.'”

Perhaps we’re finally seeing how it looks in a real NBA game.

These progressive reads are a bit more intuitive, and they’re baked into the Raptors’ offense. The most prevalent example of this is on hand-offs in the Raptors’ delay action sets, with one of Toronto’s bigs (typically Jakob Poeltl) serving as the hub.

Gradey will start in the corner, work through a pin-down screen, receive the hand-off above the break, and have to make a decision:

1. If teams go under, that’s a loss for them. He’s shooting that and likely making it.
2. If teams go over and chase, he and Jakob can flow into this pick-and-roll, and he’s progressively making this pass.

There is a third option. If the defense out-right switches the action, a Raptor in the corner makes a backdoor cut, and Gradey has also shown a knack for making that pass this season. This is likely a scripted cut, but watch Dick curl his driving angle to create a wider passing window. He sees the play multiple beats in advance.

There’s more. Other actions involving Gradey as the primary creator occur on the second side (or weak side), and they’re predicated on Gradey weaponizing his shooting ability to draw two players to the ball and make plays from there.

It’s often on the empty side so that he doesn’t have to deal with a help defender digging from the corner, easing him into things.

The key thing to note here is how much attention he receives as he comes off the screen. Teams are scared of the pull-up jumper or him getting downhill, so they’ll likely put two on the ball or hedge and recover.

Rajakovic is already utilizing this in nifty ways on the second side. It resulted in one of the season’s biggest highlights for the Raptors. Against the Bucks, the Raptors ran a twirl action with Gradey, Jonathan Mogbo, and Bruno Fernando, who used the extra attention Gradey saw to slip and put Giannis Antetokounmpo on a poster.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself here. Gradey is still a work in progress as a playmaker. And we’re talking about some of his best moments in an already small sample size of sets. And with the injuries the Raptors have dealt with, primarily to their lead initiators, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, he’s had to step up and make some primary reads.

It’s been a mixed bag. There is the bad, like this turnover.

The good: this play against the Lakers, in which he rejects the screen and makes a sweet bounce pass to Poeltl for the finish.

But it’ll be important for him to keep his dribble alive in situations like this, which is the next step in his progression.

Ultimately, he’s only scratched the surface in this department. The Raptors’ missing players over the last month of basketball have only served as a particle accelerator, furthering Gradey’s development quicker than expected.

Gradey has already progressed so much, all before his 21st birthday (Happy Birthday, by the way). He’s turned himself into one of the more lethal off-ball weapons in the league. He keeps expanding his range as a shooter, and the finishing at the basket has been a pleasant surprise. His mid-range jumper has been a joy to watch develop.

But defenses are expecting that now. They’re game-planning for it.

And he’ll have to make them pay by making the pass.

That’s the next step. Rajakovic said as much a month ago.

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