Raptors deal with Clippers in ‘bittersweet’ matchup towards Gradey Dick

VANCOUVER — Jamal Shead has seen Gradey Dick do some spectacular issues. There was the time his former Toronto Raptors teammate went off for 30 factors in back-to-back video games early within the 2024-25 season. There was the “Chucky” costume Dick wore when he co-hosted the workforce’s Halloween social gathering final yr. Or the time after they had been kicking a soccer ball round on the hallowed Santiago Bernabéu pitch of Real Madrid in Spain through the workforce’s summer season minicamp a yr in the past and Dick drilled a shot and adopted up with a backflip. Not the commonest objective celebration for a 6-foot-7 NBA participant. 

“So many memories, on and off the floor,” mentioned Shead about Dick. “But that’s Gradey. He’s so random, he’s unique.”

On Saturday afternoon in Vancouver, Shead and the remainder of his Raptors teammates bought to see Dick doing one thing else that may not have been predicted — a minimum of this time a yr in the past: taking part in for an additional workforce in one other uniform. 

The Raptors information cycle has been dominated by all issues Kawhi Leonard for months now. 

Even as Leonard sat out the Raptors’ second pre-season recreation — a 114-106 win over the Clippers — as he slowly will get as much as recreation velocity, it was exhausting to not concentrate on the affect Leonard can have when he ultimately fits up for the Raptors, seemingly on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena towards the New York Knicks.

But Leonard coming to Toronto didn’t occur in a vacuum. Headed to the Clippers within the commerce had been Brandon Ingram — who didn’t make the journey to Vancouver as he recovers from low season ankle surgical procedure and {a partially} torn Achilles tendon — and Dick, who went from thrilling draft prospect to expendable piece in three shorts years. 

Dick is now making an attempt to show his value to a brand new group in his fourth NBA season. He couldn’t ask for a greater alternative. The penalty from the NBA’s investigation into the Clippers’ wage cap circumvention throughout Leonard’s tenure price the franchise 5 first-round picks and certain leaves them in a protracted and unsure rebuild for the foreseeable future. Injuries to Ingram and Max Strus (foot) depart the Clippers short-handed at ahead to start out the season.

A fantastic alternative for a participant like Dick then, who’s heading into season 4 hoping to make it to season 5 after being taken thirteenth total by Toronto within the 2023 draft, displaying some promise however ultimately falling out of the rotation by the top of final season. 

“Bittersweet” was the best way Dick described the sentiments of seeing his teammates and coaches for the previous three seasons, however now whereas sporting a special uniform.

But he’s hopeful that the teachings he realized in Toronto will serve him properly with the Clippers, a corporation that will probably be on the hunt for playable younger expertise now that they gained’t have their very own draft choose for the subsequent 5 drafts. 

“I think just learning every single day that you need to be prepared,” Dick mentioned in a hallway at Rogers Arena earlier than taking the ground for the Clippers towards his outdated workforce. “It sounds like a little thing, but it’s one of the most important things, especially in my situation, being traded and knowing that whatever I go through, I’ve got to be prepared for whatever happens, on the court, off the court. You never know when your number is going to get called, you never know what team you’re going to be on, but whatever happens, you have to play your game.”

The key for Dick will probably be executing all of the issues he confirmed he may do fairly properly in Toronto — run the ground, minimize for baskets, be energetic on the glass — and in addition the one a part of his recreation that he wants so as to amplify all the remainder of it: make open threes. 

He shot simply 34.3 per cent from deep in three seasons in Toronto, a mean introduced down by his 30.1 per cent mark final season.

“He’s very athletic, very good cutter, very good in transition,” mentioned Clippers head coach Ty Lue. “(But) then he just has to have confidence every night in his three-point shot, to be a 38-to-39 per cent three-point shooter. He’s a good player, a good talent … I had a talk with him this summer about getting to 38 or 40 per cent three-point shooter. … I think he can do it.”

He hasn’t but in his early days as a Clipper. He was 1-of-4 from the ground and 0-of-1 from three towards the Raptors in 13 minutes and is now 1-of-9 and 0-of-2 from three by two pre-season video games with the Clippers. 

Even although the Raptors had been with out Leonard, there have been loads of positives from what proved to be a radical start-to-finish effort.

• RJ Barrett appears to be like like he’s going to start out his contract yr — he’s bought one yr left on his present take care of no momentum in the meanwhile on an extension — in type. Barrett led the Raptors in scoring final Saturday towards the Miami Heat and did it once more towards the Clippers as he completed with 20 factors on 7-of-11 capturing to associate with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. On a few possessions, he made a degree of taking smaller defenders into the publish to make the most of a mismatch, however he is aware of that when Leonard does be a part of the lineup, he may also have to regulate accordingly. “When Kawhi’s back in the lineup, that’s going to change things a little bit. Then it will be a little more cutting, spacing, just to make sure that he has room and if they double him, just be available. We have a good team and if we play how we played tonight, we’re going to have a chance.”

• Immanuel Quickley shook off a sluggish begin final week in Quebec City with a powerful all-around recreation in Vancouver. He was energetic and disruptive defensively, which helped the Raptors rating 12 fastbreak factors within the first half as they led 57-45 on the break. But much more essential was that he seemed comfy moving into a lot of three-point appears to be like — he completed 5-of-6 from deep on his strategy to 18 factors in 19 minutes. All of his made threes had been on assisted catch-and-shoot appears to be like, alternatives which ought to be plentiful with defences seemingly loading up on Barnes and Leonard. “I’ve always said it’s easier to play with other great players,” Quickley defined. “I take pride in being versatile to where I can play on the ball, off the ball, defend on the ball and off the ball. So some nights are going to be like today: a lot of catch-and-shoot. I just try to make the game easy for my teammates and give them a lot of space.”

• When Kyle Anderson mentioned the opposite day that one in all his strengths was with the ability to affect profitable with out essentially scoring, he clearly meant what he mentioned. He was 0-of-4 from the ground and 0-of-2 from the road in his first quarter-hour as a Raptor, however he was efficient regardless. As marketed, he bought his fingers within the passing lanes, made a few good passes that led to higher passes and made good selections in transition.

• Getting extra minutes for Collin Murray-Boyles in his second season has been a precedence of the Raptors’ low season plan. In order for him to stand up across the 30-minute mark persistently, it might assist if he may play successfully alongside Jakob Poeltl for stretches. Rajakovic performed them collectively for one stint within the first half and once more when Murray-Boyles — who completed with 13 factors, 9 rebounds, and three assists — began the second half. Poeltl completed with 9 factors, 4 rebounds and two steals. “Those guys will be sharing the court quite a bit,” Rajakovic mentioned. “Jak is super-important for us and brings us a lot worth and CMB does as properly, so these guys actually must study to play off one another and perceive the spacing, and when these two are collectively we actually must dominate the rebounding, defensively and offensively. I assumed their minutes collectively tonight had been good.” 

1. Integrating No.2: As of Sunday, the Raptors can have 10 days till the beginning of the regular-season after they host the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena. With three pre-season video games remaining and a journey day again from Vancouver on Sunday, that most likely means the Raptors and Leonard can have two video games (the Raptors play the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons on a street back-to-back on Thursday and Friday of this week, so it’s unlikely that Leonard will play in each video games) and maybe 5 practices to get everybody on top of things. Rajakovic is optimistic that will probably be sufficient time, even with Leonard sidelined for the primary two pre-season begins. “Anytime when you add a new player to the team, especially a high-caliber player on a team, you’re getting a lot of positives there. The challenges are coming from integration of the players, like how quickly the team starts to get together. How quickly Kawhi is going to learn how to play off his teammates? How quickly will his teammates figure out what he likes, where he means to be on the floor? But I think there are a lot of positives. We have such a team that everybody’s willing to learn and help each other and cheer for each other’s success, so I think it’s going to be great.”

2. Load Management, 2.0: “We have a plan in place (for) what we would like to happen,” mentioned Rajakovic. “We’re checking on all of his loads and how he’s reacting during his reconditioning now, but we’re going to have a holistic approach for the whole season. But load management will have to be day-to-day, just communication with him, see how he’s reacting to the loads and everything. We gotta have a big picture in place all the time.”

3. Life after Leonard: With each Leonard and Ingram sitting out with accidents, a pre-season recreation that seemed probably fascinating on the schedule bought much more pedestrian. The Clippers might need to get used to it, however Lue is refusing to simply accept that his group can’t compete: “The league has improved a lot and there’s no sense in losing games. There’s no tanking.” Lue was referring to the anti-tanking measures the NBA has put in place after final season. “So every team is going to be playing (hard) every single night … but our goals don’t change no matter who is on the floor. It’s going to be tough, but we want to make the playoffs (and) we want to play hard.”