I’m a bit worried about RJ, his numbers have been steady and yes the team overall isn’t good but his plus minus seems to be really bad.
It’s still a short period of time since the trade and there is lots of positive but he hasn’t impacted winning as much I was hoping for
Barnicus57
“I think just being consistent in the weight room. I mean, at my age, I have so much room to grow, obviously. It’s just getting on a program where I’m in the weight room and working on my body,” Dick told *The Athletic* in Oklahoma City, explaining his improvement and increasing strength. “And the main thing is just being consistent with it.
“It’s just feeling right in your body and just being able to move well and have good energy and stuff like that. It’s not only just all being strong, it’s actually taking care of your diet and feeling energized out there. I think those are little things that I’m trying to lock in on — a lot of things I’m learning now that I probably didn’t know as much in the past.”
​
And people really called him a bust in December, as if the concept of development doesn’t exist. I’m happy that Gradey is shutting up the haters and armchair draft experts.
I wanted to see Dick in the Rising Stars game. Bullshit.
CazOnReddit
More Dick minutes will make a lot of people very happy
GuessableSevens
I can’t explain why Dick had a 4 month shooting slump to start his NBA career, but he is exactly the guy I expected him to be otherwise. He’s going to be a good starting SG in the NBA, I think he’ll be a top 5-10 SG in his prime. I’m going to be very annoyed with Darko if he doesn’t play 20 mpg as his floor the rest of the season.
I never really wavered on the idea that RJ is a limited upside player. If you haven’t improved in 5 NBA seasons, you’re not going to improve much. It is what it is. As long as we make him look good next season, I think his contract will look very attractive to trade in the 2025 offseason when the tax threshold is $189M and he’ll have two seasons left on his deal. Hopefully Masai learns from his mistakes and trades him instead of holding him too long.
I am very concerned about IQ. History does not reflect well upon PGs who struggle to get to the rim and finish. He’s also not really a prospect anymore, next year is his age 25 season and he too is very close to just being the player that he is. I think he has low key played his way to a sub-$25M/year contract. If he learns how to get to the rim next year, I’ll be a lot more optimistic about him.
Scottie is our enigma. Having made the all-star game and being homegrown, I presume Masai and Bobby are gonna just reflexively give him the max a year early, but I think we shouldnt.
I don’t know that anyone in his draft class will actually command a max extension this summer… Sengun is the only risk but he has a small cap hold so the Rockets probably promise it to him but won’t give it til next summer, just as the 6ers are doing with Maxey this year. IMO Scottie has shown that he is a max player when he’s playing at full intensity, but like KAT, Simmons, and Tobias Harris… he has a concerning effort problem. The shooting has regressed since his hot first half of the season. Raptors can probably hold the contract over his head a little bit so that he works hard this summer and then give it. He’s already shown his motivation waxes and wanes… this is one way to get him to keep the foot on the pedal for a bit longer. I don’t like the idea of just giving it. I think he’s high risk to not play hard in that case, given that he literally has this deal inches from his grasp and getting him to be professional and play hard still feels like pulling teeth.
GtotheE
>He (Barrett) is shooting from floater range a lot less often, and doing a great job of getting to the rim, especially in transition.
Less often? I’m not sure I’ve seen him take one floater since he got here…
OsamaGinch-Laden
People talk about RJ like he hasn’t been amazing for us, most of y’all opinions about him are just based off old shit Knicks fans said.
-vinay
>“Everything that we expected from him, he’s able to produce it now,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković said last week. “I think that he went through all the phases that a rookie needs to go through, from being overwhelmed to really (putting) a lot of work in, to be able to play with 905 — and he had extended minutes — find the rhythm there, but also stepping on the court for us and being able to see that all the work he put in is actually paying off. I think that he made huge strides defensively. He’s doing a much better job on his shots, being in better balance. That’s something that our coaches plus performance (team) really focussed on, from day one. And his body is slowly changing. When he walked in, he looked like he was 16. Now, he looks like he’s 17 and a half.”
Perhaps the most interesting bit of the article for me. Glad to see the coaching staff have been really intentional with his development. Adam Silver made mention of this too — so much of development happens in practice, not during game time. Sucks for us as fans since that’s the part of this we get the least amount of insight on — but we are seeing the results.
AlibiXSX
>Can Immanuel Quickley find his legs as a starter next to Scottie Barnes?
if this isnt answered by the final game you draft Rob Dillingham
10 Comments
I’m a bit worried about RJ, his numbers have been steady and yes the team overall isn’t good but his plus minus seems to be really bad.
It’s still a short period of time since the trade and there is lots of positive but he hasn’t impacted winning as much I was hoping for
“I think just being consistent in the weight room. I mean, at my age, I have so much room to grow, obviously. It’s just getting on a program where I’m in the weight room and working on my body,” Dick told *The Athletic* in Oklahoma City, explaining his improvement and increasing strength. “And the main thing is just being consistent with it.
“It’s just feeling right in your body and just being able to move well and have good energy and stuff like that. It’s not only just all being strong, it’s actually taking care of your diet and feeling energized out there. I think those are little things that I’m trying to lock in on — a lot of things I’m learning now that I probably didn’t know as much in the past.”
​
And people really called him a bust in December, as if the concept of development doesn’t exist. I’m happy that Gradey is shutting up the haters and armchair draft experts.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20240220162501/https://theathletic.com/5286078/2024/02/20/raptors-gradey-dick-rj-barrett-immanuel-quickley/](https://web.archive.org/web/20240220162501/https://theathletic.com/5286078/2024/02/20/raptors-gradey-dick-rj-barrett-immanuel-quickley/)
I wanted to see Dick in the Rising Stars game. Bullshit.
More Dick minutes will make a lot of people very happy
I can’t explain why Dick had a 4 month shooting slump to start his NBA career, but he is exactly the guy I expected him to be otherwise. He’s going to be a good starting SG in the NBA, I think he’ll be a top 5-10 SG in his prime. I’m going to be very annoyed with Darko if he doesn’t play 20 mpg as his floor the rest of the season.
I never really wavered on the idea that RJ is a limited upside player. If you haven’t improved in 5 NBA seasons, you’re not going to improve much. It is what it is. As long as we make him look good next season, I think his contract will look very attractive to trade in the 2025 offseason when the tax threshold is $189M and he’ll have two seasons left on his deal. Hopefully Masai learns from his mistakes and trades him instead of holding him too long.
I am very concerned about IQ. History does not reflect well upon PGs who struggle to get to the rim and finish. He’s also not really a prospect anymore, next year is his age 25 season and he too is very close to just being the player that he is. I think he has low key played his way to a sub-$25M/year contract. If he learns how to get to the rim next year, I’ll be a lot more optimistic about him.
Scottie is our enigma. Having made the all-star game and being homegrown, I presume Masai and Bobby are gonna just reflexively give him the max a year early, but I think we shouldnt.
I don’t know that anyone in his draft class will actually command a max extension this summer… Sengun is the only risk but he has a small cap hold so the Rockets probably promise it to him but won’t give it til next summer, just as the 6ers are doing with Maxey this year. IMO Scottie has shown that he is a max player when he’s playing at full intensity, but like KAT, Simmons, and Tobias Harris… he has a concerning effort problem. The shooting has regressed since his hot first half of the season. Raptors can probably hold the contract over his head a little bit so that he works hard this summer and then give it. He’s already shown his motivation waxes and wanes… this is one way to get him to keep the foot on the pedal for a bit longer. I don’t like the idea of just giving it. I think he’s high risk to not play hard in that case, given that he literally has this deal inches from his grasp and getting him to be professional and play hard still feels like pulling teeth.
>He (Barrett) is shooting from floater range a lot less often, and doing a great job of getting to the rim, especially in transition.
Less often? I’m not sure I’ve seen him take one floater since he got here…
People talk about RJ like he hasn’t been amazing for us, most of y’all opinions about him are just based off old shit Knicks fans said.
>“Everything that we expected from him, he’s able to produce it now,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković said last week. “I think that he went through all the phases that a rookie needs to go through, from being overwhelmed to really (putting) a lot of work in, to be able to play with 905 — and he had extended minutes — find the rhythm there, but also stepping on the court for us and being able to see that all the work he put in is actually paying off. I think that he made huge strides defensively. He’s doing a much better job on his shots, being in better balance. That’s something that our coaches plus performance (team) really focussed on, from day one. And his body is slowly changing. When he walked in, he looked like he was 16. Now, he looks like he’s 17 and a half.”
Perhaps the most interesting bit of the article for me. Glad to see the coaching staff have been really intentional with his development. Adam Silver made mention of this too — so much of development happens in practice, not during game time. Sucks for us as fans since that’s the part of this we get the least amount of insight on — but we are seeing the results.
>Can Immanuel Quickley find his legs as a starter next to Scottie Barnes?
if this isnt answered by the final game you draft Rob Dillingham