dude’s 20. Let those that were perfect out the gate at their first real job cast the first stone.
slamdunk23
No one is giving up on him but it’s ok to admit that his performance so far has been awful.
Probably needs some time in the g-league so he can get big mins and get his confidence back on his shot
passiveparrot
yeah we don’t know ball
but analyzing his play from the games he did play and its clear he does nothing well to show us his potential
motherseffinjones
Remember when people where calling Jabari Smith a bust early into his rookie year lol. People like that are either stupid or don’t understand that going from college to the nba is playing a different game at a different pace. It takes time to make that type of adjustment.
Raptorsthrowaway1
Who is saying that he is a bust?
purpl3r3dpod
I haven’t seen one single person say he’s a bust. I have seen many who have been critical of his shot selection and shooting %, which is completely valid. Lots of room for him to learn and improve.
Massive_Secretary658
Is it normal for the best shooter in a draft class to be shooting 20% once they get into the league? I find it odd that his shooting % has been this low. I was expecting 28 – 30 % at least
Training-Site-7019
I believe that Gradey will be a good player but Jordan Hawkins is looking real good right now. Those were the 2 best shooters in the draft
vaalbarag
I know the popular thing is to send him to the g-league to get reps, I wouldn’t hate it if they did that… but the other side is that the Raptors coaching staff was rebuilt with a huge focus on coaches with a player-development background. There’s a lot more to developing a player than just game reps, and I think it makes sense for the coaching staff to just take him out of the rotation for a bit and see what they can do to help him here.
It’s unfortunate that our schedule isn’t really aligning with the 905 the way it does some years where there games where they can move guys between Raptors and 905 on a daily basis, because that would probably be optimal.
I’ve been really happy with his rebounding and his movement off-ball, but right now he’s not going to be a net positive until the shot starts falling.
nmad95
Nah, both can be true. He’s been really bad but I also have faith he’ll turn out really good for us.
GtotheE
I think you can see why our front office is so excited about him, as well as why he dropped to 13. Once the shot starts falling, he will become a lot more valuable. Even still though, he’s got a lot of work to do as a defender, handler, driver.
PepperPepper6
It’s too early to call him a bust or sure thing. But he should be getting reps in the G League and getting heavy minutes down there instead.
N0minal
He’s a 19 year old rookie playing on a team still trying to figure it out and asked to be their sixth best player.
The only super young dude I’ve seen come in and be any good was Keegan in SAC
Hannibal_Spectre
These threads are dumb. No one has said he’s a bust, and no one is pulling for him to fail.
But it is entirely fair to observe that he was brought in for shooting and that he has struggled at that so far.
ror_shahk
I have been saying “he’s playing like trash”, but he’s not a bust. I have learned a lot from my early opinions on pascal
ichez5
We’re 15 games in. How can someone be a bust so early on.
Eastern-Technology84
Well it’s too early to tell. Can’t say he’s a bust yet. But I’ve also seen people on this sub saying he should start. And that he is our future, along with Scottie. Which is also wild.
EmceeSuperDave1987
Yeah, this guy hasn’t given us Dick yet. Give it some time, and the amount of Dick will grow.
Barnicus57
It’s almost as if he’s a 19 year old rookie. I’m really not sure what people were expecting.
krypto9er
I was just asking myself, could Gradey have a break out game his first year in the league? I believe it’s possible but I think he’s gonna take time to develop his shot and get accustomed to NBA offence.
TmacHizzy
Dick a bust? Bit premature
obnoxious-redditr
Are you really ready to give him the keys? He will be here for a while, and right now, there are gaps in his game. Maybe once he’s a but more consistent – but its wayyy too early to blow everything up and build around Gradey. He’s not that level of asset yet.
Acceptable_Age9416
I don’t think he’s a bust… Way too early, but with what the team is lacking he definitely isn’t seizing the opportunity
illmatic2112
Trying to get an open look as a rook is not going to be easy ever. The skill level change is massive. He needs to have actions run for him, and even then he’s gotta be able to handle big fast strong MFs closing out.
IMO G League is the answer to at least get him to game speed comfort
EchoBay
Somewhere Nick Nurse got mad and cussed out Gary Trent Jr at a presser just now.
Bejtsen
Like I have said before he needs developing…right now though he’s on the outside looking in as there are always busts in the lotto. Most of the lotto picks have been performing right now but him…but the upside is he’s 19/20…Klay and Kennard both entered the league at 21…but they’re shots were falling at 14 games into their rookie career…through 14 games Klay was shooting 42% from the field and 46% from 3, Kennard was shooting 46% from the field and 42% from 3…Gradey been shooting 27% from the field 24% from 3…
Klay avg 17 mpg while Kennard and Gradey have averaged 15 mpg
zigmatters
Dick ain’t gonna bust
cad_internet
I don’t even think he’s been awful, at all.
There are a lot of things to like:
* Passing * Driving (a surprise for me) * Off-ball movement (he’s one of, if not the best at it on the team) * IQ
His shot is letting him down, big time. It’s so weird because that’s his main skill, and he was expected to struggle with the other aspects of basketball, not shooting.
It’s the fact that he can’t hit anything that’s making him look terrible. IMO he’s definitely playable *as long as his shot is falling*.
Benching him for a bit is fine. But I don’t want to see this long term. He needs minutes to develop. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to sending him down to the 905 to get reps in.
Puzzleheaded_Heron_5
I’m starting to think “don’t know ball” is code for “I have no evidence for my claims so please don’t question what I’m saying”.
Perfect600
its funny how would the people be acting if the Raps were tanking?
Acrobatic_Flatworm79
The problem is half this sub expected too much to begin with thinking he was gonna start or at the very least be playing significant bench minutes.
GrunDMC74
I think Dick just came onto the Toronto scene in such a good way that everyone kind of expected him to do the same on the court. He needs some time, and the freedom to make a few mistakes with the safety of knowing they wont be his last. I trust in Darko for this…
Krock23
He just needs reps and he’ll adjust to the speed of the NBA game. He’s obviously proven at the college level and has a sweet stroke.
I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s around 5ppg this year and 10-13ppg next year kind of on a Duncan Robinson trajectory.
mocha-thunder
He just turned 20 and has clearly been overwhelmed by nba speed and physicality. Calling him a bust now is ridiculous.
willieb3
Raps are in a tough spot to develop a rookie right now. We don’t get much garbage time in our games because we are neither really good nor really bad. If we want to compete now we can’t really afford to have him out there.
Namorath82
I wouldn’t call anyone a bust until after year 3 of their career
Kpuntz
That Darko quote is more applicable to Darko right now.
Jesh010
His McDonald’s commercial with pascal was jokes.
redditistheworstapp
I’d be fine with him on the roster if he BUSTED HIS ASS but he just doesn’t. He doesn’t run the floor hard, he doesn’t run the baseline, he is a black hole when he gets the ball in his hands because he does not have tight handles, doesn’t throw accurate passes in the half court, doesn’t hustle for rebounds, and most importantly he legitimately ruins our half court defense, he is always getting lost in no man’s land with our switch style defense and the only time he ever looks okay on defense is when we play a team with a player like him who just sits in the corner and we stick him there. But anytime we play any team with any sort of elite scoring ability they just call that player to come set a screen because they know he’ll switch on cause of our defensive scheme and they just attack him.
deepr
needs some time on court and I don’t think his normal playtime with main team will cut it. Just give him starting minutes in g league to get some reps
UncleNuks
Only an idiot would be drawing conclusions 200 minutes into an NBA career
n3moh0es
lmfao who said he’s a bust? how could a 13th pick be a bust? we just saying right now he’s trash which is statistically a fact
Big_Albatross_3050
tbh I’d be more surprised if he came out the gate sprinting like year 1 Scottie. He’s a pick outside the top 10, those guys don’t usually end up stars or superstars.
Give him time to cook, maybe even some G-League time
43 Comments
dude’s 20. Let those that were perfect out the gate at their first real job cast the first stone.
No one is giving up on him but it’s ok to admit that his performance so far has been awful.
Probably needs some time in the g-league so he can get big mins and get his confidence back on his shot
yeah we don’t know ball
but analyzing his play from the games he did play and its clear he does nothing well to show us his potential
Remember when people where calling Jabari Smith a bust early into his rookie year lol. People like that are either stupid or don’t understand that going from college to the nba is playing a different game at a different pace. It takes time to make that type of adjustment.
Who is saying that he is a bust?
I haven’t seen one single person say he’s a bust. I have seen many who have been critical of his shot selection and shooting %, which is completely valid. Lots of room for him to learn and improve.
Is it normal for the best shooter in a draft class to be shooting 20% once they get into the league? I find it odd that his shooting % has been this low. I was expecting 28 – 30 % at least
I believe that Gradey will be a good player but Jordan Hawkins is looking real good right now. Those were the 2 best shooters in the draft
I know the popular thing is to send him to the g-league to get reps, I wouldn’t hate it if they did that… but the other side is that the Raptors coaching staff was rebuilt with a huge focus on coaches with a player-development background. There’s a lot more to developing a player than just game reps, and I think it makes sense for the coaching staff to just take him out of the rotation for a bit and see what they can do to help him here.
It’s unfortunate that our schedule isn’t really aligning with the 905 the way it does some years where there games where they can move guys between Raptors and 905 on a daily basis, because that would probably be optimal.
I’ve been really happy with his rebounding and his movement off-ball, but right now he’s not going to be a net positive until the shot starts falling.
Nah, both can be true. He’s been really bad but I also have faith he’ll turn out really good for us.
I think you can see why our front office is so excited about him, as well as why he dropped to 13. Once the shot starts falling, he will become a lot more valuable. Even still though, he’s got a lot of work to do as a defender, handler, driver.
It’s too early to call him a bust or sure thing. But he should be getting reps in the G League and getting heavy minutes down there instead.
He’s a 19 year old rookie playing on a team still trying to figure it out and asked to be their sixth best player.
The only super young dude I’ve seen come in and be any good was Keegan in SAC
These threads are dumb. No one has said he’s a bust, and no one is pulling for him to fail.
But it is entirely fair to observe that he was brought in for shooting and that he has struggled at that so far.
I have been saying “he’s playing like trash”, but he’s not a bust. I have learned a lot from my early opinions on pascal
We’re 15 games in. How can someone be a bust so early on.
Well it’s too early to tell. Can’t say he’s a bust yet. But I’ve also seen people on this sub saying he should start. And that he is our future, along with Scottie. Which is also wild.
Yeah, this guy hasn’t given us Dick yet. Give it some time, and the amount of Dick will grow.
It’s almost as if he’s a 19 year old rookie. I’m really not sure what people were expecting.
I was just asking myself, could Gradey have a break out game his first year in the league? I believe it’s possible but I think he’s gonna take time to develop his shot and get accustomed to NBA offence.
Dick a bust? Bit premature
Are you really ready to give him the keys?
He will be here for a while, and right now, there are gaps in his game.
Maybe once he’s a but more consistent – but its wayyy too early to blow everything up and build around Gradey. He’s not that level of asset yet.
I don’t think he’s a bust… Way too early, but with what the team is lacking he definitely isn’t seizing the opportunity
Trying to get an open look as a rook is not going to be easy ever. The skill level change is massive. He needs to have actions run for him, and even then he’s gotta be able to handle big fast strong MFs closing out.
IMO G League is the answer to at least get him to game speed comfort
Somewhere Nick Nurse got mad and cussed out Gary Trent Jr at a presser just now.
Like I have said before he needs developing…right now though he’s on the outside looking in as there are always busts in the lotto. Most of the lotto picks have been performing right now but him…but the upside is he’s 19/20…Klay and Kennard both entered the league at 21…but they’re shots were falling at 14 games into their rookie career…through 14 games Klay was shooting 42% from the field and 46% from 3, Kennard was shooting 46% from the field and 42% from 3…Gradey been shooting 27% from the field 24% from 3…
Klay avg 17 mpg while Kennard and Gradey have averaged 15 mpg
Dick ain’t gonna bust
I don’t even think he’s been awful, at all.
There are a lot of things to like:
* Passing
* Driving (a surprise for me)
* Off-ball movement (he’s one of, if not the best at it on the team)
* IQ
His shot is letting him down, big time. It’s so weird because that’s his main skill, and he was expected to struggle with the other aspects of basketball, not shooting.
It’s the fact that he can’t hit anything that’s making him look terrible. IMO he’s definitely playable *as long as his shot is falling*.
Benching him for a bit is fine. But I don’t want to see this long term. He needs minutes to develop. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to sending him down to the 905 to get reps in.
I’m starting to think “don’t know ball” is code for “I have no evidence for my claims so please don’t question what I’m saying”.
its funny how would the people be acting if the Raps were tanking?
The problem is half this sub expected too much to begin with thinking he was gonna start or at the very least be playing significant bench minutes.
I think Dick just came onto the Toronto scene in such a good way that everyone kind of expected him to do the same on the court. He needs some time, and the freedom to make a few mistakes with the safety of knowing they wont be his last. I trust in Darko for this…
He just needs reps and he’ll adjust to the speed of the NBA game. He’s obviously proven at the college level and has a sweet stroke.
I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s around 5ppg this year and 10-13ppg next year kind of on a Duncan Robinson trajectory.
He just turned 20 and has clearly been overwhelmed by nba speed and physicality. Calling him a bust now is ridiculous.
Raps are in a tough spot to develop a rookie right now. We don’t get much garbage time in our games because we are neither really good nor really bad. If we want to compete now we can’t really afford to have him out there.
I wouldn’t call anyone a bust until after year 3 of their career
That Darko quote is more applicable to Darko right now.
His McDonald’s commercial with pascal was jokes.
I’d be fine with him on the roster if he BUSTED HIS ASS but he just doesn’t. He doesn’t run the floor hard, he doesn’t run the baseline, he is a black hole when he gets the ball in his hands because he does not have tight handles, doesn’t throw accurate passes in the half court, doesn’t hustle for rebounds, and most importantly he legitimately ruins our half court defense, he is always getting lost in no man’s land with our switch style defense and the only time he ever looks okay on defense is when we play a team with a player like him who just sits in the corner and we stick him there. But anytime we play any team with any sort of elite scoring ability they just call that player to come set a screen because they know he’ll switch on cause of our defensive scheme and they just attack him.
needs some time on court and I don’t think his normal playtime with main team will cut it. Just give him starting minutes in g league to get some reps
Only an idiot would be drawing conclusions 200 minutes into an NBA career
lmfao who said he’s a bust? how could a 13th pick be a bust? we just saying right now he’s trash which is statistically a fact
tbh I’d be more surprised if he came out the gate sprinting like year 1 Scottie. He’s a pick outside the top 10, those guys don’t usually end up stars or superstars.
Give him time to cook, maybe even some G-League time