Grading the Toronto Raptors’ offseason moves after one quarter of 2023 season
The Raptors made some questionable moves this offseason.
The Toronto Raptors have tried their best to switch around the furniture and make some improvements to their roster, bringing in names like Dennis Schroder while letting Fred VanVleet and Nick Nurse leave for greener pastures. That hasn’t translated into wins.
The Raptors currently stand at 9-12 on the season, regressing to the point where Darko Rajakovic is bribing the team with an all-expense paid dinner on him if they can manage to win three games in a row. The Raptors have a Top 10 pick, but the Spurs will claim it due to the Jakob Poeltl trade.
Ujiri may not have made the big offseason trade many were expecting, and even more were hoping finally went down, but he did make some incremental moves around the edges. To say the Raptors have been unremarkable despite all these changes is a massive understatement.
Through one-quarter of the 2023-24 campaign, the Raptors’ offseason moves include one iffy move that is still very much up in the air, a wily veteran who has outperformed his contract, and a roll of the dice that has come up snake eyes in the most embarrassing fashion.
Grading all Toronto Raptors’ big offseason moves after one-quarter of 2023 season
Drafting Gradey Dick
When the Raptors used their first-round pick (No. 13 overall) on Dick, they likely anticipated he could be able to slide right into the rotation as a valued shooter. Instead, it looks like he needs a bit more seasoning in the G League before he can contribute regularly at the NBA level.
In an ironic twist of fate, Dick has excelled in many aspects outside of shooting. His feel for the game is terrific, and he’s looked better on defense than many expected for a teenager his size. However, with a 3-point percentage under 30% from the field, Dick has been too ineffective to get rotation time.
Gradey Dick has had mixed results for the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors likely thought Dick’s shooting would create a path to some consistent NBA time in 2023. If getting minutes out of him as a rookie was a stated goal, then this pick has not looked very effective at all, and Ujiri should be raked over the coals for this pick.
However, it would be foolish to judge a player like Dick on just a few games very early in his career. Things haven’t looked very pretty early on due to the sudden disappearance of his shot, but the hope he could eventually make good on all that promise is there.
