Gradey Dick's Time With Raptors Could Be Coming to an End

The Toronto Raptors are inching closer to the end of the season, and they are going to need contributions from several different sources in order to achieve their goals of making it to the top six and avoiding the Play-In tournament.

Well, Gradey Dick has been in and out of the lineup for the Raptors, he could be an important player to monitor for the team as it tries to figure out who will be in the rotation at the end of the season.

"Despite his scoring dropping off a cliff (from 14.4 points last season to 6.2 in this one) and his three-point percentage plummeting (from 35.0 to 30.1), Gradey Dick has appeared in almost every Toronto Raptors game this season. And the team's point differential is actually better with him on the floor," Bleacher Report contributor Andy Bailey wrote.

"The mere threat of his shooting is helping, at least to a degree. And if those threes start falling, Toronto is going to be a tougher puzzle to solve than it is right now. Scottie Barnes is having an All-Star-caliber campaign, but he would be even more effective with more consistent outside shooting around him. At least in theory, Dick should be able to provide that."

Gradey Dick Trade Could Come This Offseason

Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick controls the ball against the Detroit Pistons. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The key words to Bailey's excerpt from above are "in theory," because Dick has not been playing well enough to earn minutes in the rotation moving forward. In the month of March, Dick has only played in 10 minutes or more twice. Both of those games were against rebuilding teams in the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls, and Toronto won both contests by 30 points.

The Raptors feel as though Dick is a good young player, but he no longer fits the timeline for the team. Brandon Ingram's introduction to the roster has taken Dick's need out of the equation and the Raptors are better off with the All-Star as opposed to the third-year pro.

In his first two seasons, Dick got more of a chance to play because the Raptors were in the lottery, but now that they are looking at their first playoff appearance since 2022, the team simply has different needs.

This doesn't mean Dick cannot become a good player in the NBA, but it's more likely for that to happen with a team that isn't the Raptors next season and beyond.

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