Getting Traded to the Clippers Gives Gradey Dick His Last NBA Chance

Clippers fans can finally look ahead to the 2026-27 season. Now that the Kawhi Leonard and cap circumvention cloud is no longer hanging above them, the LA Clippers can focus on the immediate task at hand. The goal will be to stay as relevant and competitive as possible while building for the future.

In terms of players, the main return in the Leonard trade for the Clippers was Brandon Ingram. The former All-Star small forward will be one of the key members of the new-look Clippers as they try to chase a postseason spot. While fans generally have a good idea of what to expect from Ingram, the other newcomer in the trade, Gradey Dick, is arriving with minimal expectations.

Gradey Dick Has a Chance to Revive His Struggling Career With the Clippers

This could serve the 22-year-old shooting guard well. After being the 13th-overall pick back in 2023, Dick failed to live up to expectations in Toronto. Now, the former Kansas standout has a chance to finally establish himself as a rotation-caliber NBA player with the Clippers.

The stakes are high for Dick as he is entering the final year of his rookie-scale contract. What he does this season will determine whether he will land another guaranteed contract. Otherwise, he could find himself on the fringes of the NBA, bouncing around on two-way contracts, in the G League, or overseas.

While the Clippers present an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, Dick is facing an uphill battle for rotation minutes. LA has a ton of backcourt depth, especially at shooting guard. He will be behind Bradley Beal, Max Strus, Keaton Wagler, Kris Dunn, and Kobe Sanders in the rotation. Thanks to his decent positional size, he could slide up to small forward, but the Clippers will have Brandon Ingram and Derrick Jones Jr. there to start the season.

It's difficult to see how Ty Lue can find enough minutes to go around for all of these perimeter options. Barring injuries or trades to players ahead of him on the depth chart, Dick will be buried in the rotation, at least early in the season.

The problem with Dick is that he hasn't been able to do what he was supposed to be good at in the NBA. His calling card was his shooting coming into the league. But he has shot 34.3% from downtown so far. He simply doesn't do enough in other facets of the game to justify being out there as a below-average shooter.

The Clippers don't really need Dick's skill set, either. LA has a ton of weaknesses in the rotation, but offense-first shooting guards isn't one of them. The Clippers should have enough shooting and offensive juice, thanks to the likes of Darius Garland, Ingram, Beal, Strus, Rui Hachimura, and Wagler. What they need instead is more defense, intensity, and physicality.

If Dick can improve in those aspects of his game, he could carve out a role for himself, but he is certainly down in the pecking order. Whether he can do enough in the 2026-27 campaign to save his NBA future remains to be seen.

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