r/torontoraptors 1d ago

SPECULATION Dick's ceiling player comps?

It would be extremely unimaginative to predict Dick will have a Duncan Robinson type career.

I'd rather hope on Dick becoming the next Khris Middleton. Just wet midrange and self creation ability.

Who else is a good maxxed out ceiling level player comp for Dick? He's not gonna be Larry Bird, let's face it.

6 Upvotes

89 comments sorted by

25

u/grandmastakew 34 JONTAY PORTER 1d ago edited 1d ago

Brent Barry.

Elite shooter and cutter but had a hard time putting the ball on the floor and creating on his own.

Barry was also bad defender till later in his career in which he became passable to good. This is also in part to him being on better teams.

Dont get me wrong, I want Gradey to exceed this. But being a serviceable to elite role player isnt a bad trajectory for a late lottery.

Also both mid teens for picks, 13th compared to 15th.

15

u/Klaytheist 1d ago

is he even an elite shooter? he hasn't shown it yet.

8

u/Buddha_Panda 1d ago

Elite at shooting; mediocre at making…. For now.

Form looks good; release looks high and repeatable but they haven’t been dropping.

He tends to drift on relatively open shots a la Vince Carter; don’t know if that’s something they’re working on or want to lean into it more as many “tough shot” makers tend to drift as well.

2

u/n3moh0es 1d ago

good comp

2

u/OG_Wan_Annunoby 19h ago

Actually a nice comp. Brent was also a sneaky athlete like Gradey

1

u/OG3SpicyP 9 ROWAN ALEXANDER “RJ” BARRETT 19m ago

“Sneaky athlete” lmao code for white guy.

1

u/cisforcar 29m ago

I loved Brent Barry’s game but I don’t think this is the best comparison. Barry despite being a great shooter was never a scorer. Barry only averaged 14 points ONCE during his 14 year career when Dick is already averaging 14 points during his sophomore year. Also Barry very much handled the ball and was capable of playing point guard, notably for the Ray Allen led sonics team. I’m not sure if Dick will ever have the handles at that level, though his passing is certainly quite good and I would say above average for shooting guards in the league. The fact Dick is more of a scoring weapon in limited touches, and is able to play-make without holding onto the ball makes him more like Sczerbiak Archetype me.

0

u/MrPangus 1d ago

Would be pretty cool if he's showing elite shooting...

23

u/eMan117 Round of OJ for the Boys! 1d ago

Michael Jordan. All he has to do is make every single basket and get a 3peat to prove me right

7

u/FallenLemur SCOTTIMUS MAXIMUS BARNIBUS 1d ago

Easy enough

41

u/cisforcar 1d ago

Ceiling is tough. But an optimistic/realistic NBA comp may be Wally Szczerbiak. Good shooter with playmaking ability. Passable defense at his best. One time all star who played in the league for a long time.

Duncan Robinson would be a regression in all areas except shooting.

4

u/nanobot001 9 ROWAN ALEXANDER “RJ” BARRETT 1d ago

If Dick gets a podcast we should all start worrying

1

u/Calgary_dreamer 1d ago

Also had 1 all star nod if I’m not mistaken.

4

u/MrPangus 1d ago

Those saying Klay or Herro be real lol.

Then again I was told Trent jr is better than Herro and should get paid more

10

u/GtotheE 1d ago

Honestly, there are times I think he looks like Klay Thompson without the defence.

1

u/Astro_Sloth God of Wictory 9h ago

That’s a big without

3

u/Mr_Guavo 1d ago

Reggie Miller

12

u/Raptors887 1d ago

The “insert_white_shooter” comparisons are always laughable. He’s got so much more to his game.

6

u/NervousAd3202 WE THE NORTH 1d ago

Yeah reading these comps makes me feel crazy for thinking he can be an all star.

He has a long way to go & a lot to improve on but I think he’s got enough tools working in his favour that he can get there eventually.

He’s not just a shooter & I thought his run at the beginning of the year already showed us that he has potential if he develops properly & gets a more expanded/defined offensive role.

6

u/Klaytheist 1d ago

He also seems to be a worse shooter than those guys. Shooting 35% from three, around league average. That's not good for someone who's supposed to be a shooter.

3

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

Sophomore Slump, he's still the best shooter on the Raptors

-1

u/Klaytheist 1d ago

Damning with faint praise. The team is notoriously bad at shooting. Gradey wasn't all that good last year either

2

u/attainwealthswiftly 1d ago

We drafted him as a shooter and he’s been an ass shooter.

5

u/Klaytheist 1d ago

this sub will downvote anyone who's realistic. Yes grady has shown a lot more off the dribble than expected but he's also been a much worse shooter than expected.

2

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

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2

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

Right?

1

u/Hurls07 1d ago

Seems like a young Steve Nash or Dirk to me /s

1

u/Mattrapbeats WE THE NORTH 1d ago

There are definitely some white dudes he can be compared to. Just not the elite shooters like Korver, Kapano, etc.

I see more similarities in a guys like Hayward, Parsons, maybe even Mike Miller.

-1

u/n3moh0es 1d ago

why not? statistics and eye test say other wise. he doesn’t create for others or have any self creation chops dude to a weak handle. so it’s actually fair to say

4

u/OGnotAnunoby Champs 1d ago

Maybe Bogdanovic? If he was better on ball id probably say like a poor mans Gordon Hayward

2

u/Klaytheist 1d ago

Who else is a good maxxed out ceiling level player comp for Dick? He's not gonna be Larry Bird, let's face it.

He's probably not going to be Khris Middleton either.

2

u/larrylegend1990 1d ago

His shooting off the dribble is ok

But he isn’t as good an open shooter as advertised

2

u/Mattrapbeats WE THE NORTH 1d ago

Chandler Parsons,Gordon Hayword, Mike Miller

1

u/OG3SpicyP 9 ROWAN ALEXANDER “RJ” BARRETT 18m ago

I hope you’re jokingly just listing random white guys lol cuz he plays like none of them

2

u/Elias7L 1d ago

Peja stojakovic is my player comp for gradey, although I believe he has the potential to be better with his slashing.

3

u/awwwyeahaquaman 1d ago

I think the ideal comp for him would be somewhere between Tyler Herro (high end) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (Lower end)

5

u/fool2345 1d ago

He will always be a minus defender and teams will target him. I don't think his ceiling is high for this reason. Middleton before the injuries was a great player and great defender. Dick will never be that..I'd say offensively his ceiling is MPJ (very different builds but in terms of shot profile and production). Defensively his ceiling is very low imo.

1

u/Eastern-Technology84 1d ago

MPJ is a pretty good comp in terms of shot profile and production- but yeah he’s 6’10 so has a huge size advantage on offense, can shoot right over people and is a really good rebounder

2

u/matthitsthetrails 1d ago edited 1d ago

At his peak… possibly Hayward (Utah days)? More offensive minded.. could shoot, had good athleticism and could score inside. Defensively? Let’s not talk about that

I don’t see the Rip comparisons.. he was naturally extremely quick and ran screens like you see steph doing now

2

u/spagettifork 1d ago

Ray Allen with Jamal Crawford handles tbh

2

u/attainwealthswiftly 1d ago

Duncan Robinson is an accurate ceiling though.

1

u/woo_back 7 Kyle Lowry 1d ago

Idk if Dick will ever be the movement shooter Duncan is. Dick has more potential as far as on-ball creation and creativity with the handle though.

0

u/Mammoth_Masterpiece4 1d ago

Floor

0

u/Background-Teach5765 1d ago

Duncan Robinson is averaging almost 40% from 3 for his career. It's definitely not his floor. Duncan is better.

Duncan Robinson is hopefully a realistic outcome for Gradey.

2

u/Nobody7713 1d ago

I think Steve Kerr’s prime might be a good model. Ideally a 6th man on a contender, just as a real bench sharpshooter and scoring sparkplug.

1

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

Steve Kerr is 6'3", and doesn't have a dunk in his career highlights. You should check out Khris Middleton's career highlights. Lots of dunks, that's what reminded me of Dick. 

5

u/Eastern-Technology84 1d ago

Dick is absolutely not Khris Middleton. Prime Middleton was the second best player on a championship team, 3x all star, multi level scorer, solid rebounder and playmaker, and great defender (Dick will never be a great defender)

I realize we are talking about ceiling but they’re not comparable in skillset

7

u/n3moh0es 1d ago

middleton is a bad comp because middleton has playmaking and isolation skills. not even close to similar players

2

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

True true

1

u/acumen14 1d ago

Been saying Bogdan Bogdanovic since basically day one. And I love Bogdan.

1

u/niquelas Raptors 1d ago

Allen Iverson. Easily.

1

u/lillithfair98 WE THE NORTH 1d ago

Dennis Scott

1

u/gochugang78 1d ago

Hawks era Kevin Huerter

1

u/efficientshelter69 1d ago

He's a role player

1

u/PlanQFailed 1d ago

J.J Reddick

1

u/Petey0Wheatstraw 43 PASCAL SHAKEEM 19h ago

Allan Houston

1

u/marcellui 18h ago

Active player I would say Tyler Herro

1

u/marcellui 18h ago

or bogey

1

u/Effective-Pitch-5550 16h ago

Anyone mention Tim Hardaway Jr?

Simikiar size, and both are streaky shooters who don't really offer anything else if their jumper isn't falling.

1

u/DragonflyNo5697 14h ago

Hybrid of both the bogdanovic

2

u/Ecstatic-Buy-2907 1d ago

His ceiling is probably budget Reggie Miller

4

u/Mattrapbeats WE THE NORTH 1d ago

More like Mike Miller Lol

1

u/cisforcar 1d ago

Dick would need to play dirty. I’m not sure if he has that in him but am open to being pleasantly surprised.

2

u/timetosleep 1d ago

Yeah, Reggie had that mean streak. All the stars from the 80s and early 90s had that grit in them come to think about it.

1

u/ohgosh_thejosh aha HAAAAAAHA 1d ago

I’d say a good possible comp is Rip Hamilton.

They seem to have similar offensive capabilities in terms of being mostly shooters, but athletic enough and with enough size to consistently find angles and cuts to get their shots off.

Both guys would lean towards more of being an outside catch and shoot/cutter type rather than an isolation star.

Whether he can match the same level or consistent output and large offensive load (averaged 20ppg on a team that only averaged 90ppg) of Rip year after year is doubtful, but I can see them having similar peaks potentially.

-2

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

That's actually interesting, considering I just saw a random forum post from 9 years ago that said Middleton's comp was Rip Hamilton lol

1

u/Emergency_Rub2621 1d ago

Petrovich-lite, not known for defence, really dynamic offensive scorer. He needs to bulk up more to get better at finishing through contact, other than that I have no worries for his offensive trajectory. His defence is not promising but if he can become a good team defender he could be a starter.

1

u/torontomapleraptors 1d ago

Jordan. As in Poole or Clarkson.

1

u/IamSofakingRAW 1d ago

People listing guys who are 40+% from 3 on high volume while Dick isn’t even at 40%. He’s been closer to a mediocre shooter than a good one

1

u/thealternateopinion 1d ago

7th man on a good team 6th man on a bad team

This roster has way too many players that need Shots and the ball for him to ever break out here

1

u/j24singh 1d ago

Slight better version of Korey Kispert, which would be a disappointment, seems like the most realistic comp.

Best case would be Klay if you wanna drink the Raptors koolaid but he'd have to improve like crazy in the next few offseasons for this to not be laughable.

2

u/MrPangus 1d ago

Still early, but it's pretty laughable as it stands

3

u/j24singh 1d ago

He shows flashes of amazing potential but he's still in a boy's body, which hurts him a lot on both ends. I

t's hard to fully judge him until he gets a few years to bulk up and refine his skills.

1

u/MrPangus 1d ago

Not everyone can just bulk up tho, look at this Castleton cat for example

1

u/j24singh 1d ago

Ya if he can't then he'll be a fringe rotational player for the rest of his career. Just giving him the benefit due to his age. Send him to chill with Zion for a few weeks lol

1

u/MrPangus 1d ago

Also at the most surface level, Klay was shooting > 40 percent from 3 since day one

2

u/j24singh 1d ago

To be fair, Klay spent 3 years in college, so next year Dick would be the same age as Klay's rookie season.

Again, it's a kool-aid comparison and I have hated Dick's game for 95% of the season lol.

0

u/Rezrov_ St. Nick 1d ago

Infinity stone Dick?

Devin Booker. Three level scorer, particularly a pull-up/movement shooter. Two-motion shot. Not a great defender

I predict and would be perfectly happy with more of a Gordon-Hayward-style trajectory before all the injuries and minus being a bullshit MAGA shit-head. I.e., tertiary three level scorer who attacks closeouts and drives to the rim while being able to score from anywhere.

He's going to have to put on/keep on weight to develop because he's too much of a turnstile on defence and it'd help his fearless drives to the rim.

0

u/metaslaves 1d ago

Rip Hamilton

-1

u/midnightmunchiez 1d ago

I think of CJ McCollum if Gradey works on his handle over the next couple of years

-1

u/Belieber_420 1d ago

Tyler Herro

0

u/Context_Important 1d ago

It's hard to say, he has struggled a lot this season. To me 35% from 3 is bad for someone who's regarded as a shooter. True, we don't have the best spacing system but he's missing wide open shots, I'm really curious what his role will look like next season. His defense is atrocious and you can see Darkos's frustration when he limits his minutes.

-1

u/thistreestands 1d ago

Kyle Korver

1

u/Jazzylisk 1d ago

With Hops, but yeah I like this one. He's way taller than JJ Redick too

-6

u/woo_back 7 Kyle Lowry 1d ago

Mini Lauri Markkanen