Gradey Dick repeated one word to describe the feeling ahead of his first game against the team that drafted him in 2023 — “bittersweet.” Part of a package deal sent from the Toronto Raptors to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for aging superstar Kawhi Leonard, Dick suited up against the Raptors in pre-season action at Rogers Arena on Saturday. Dick played 13 minutes in the Clippers 114-106 loss against the Raptors, registering four points. The Raptors sent Dick, Brandon Ingram, two unprotected first-round picks (2031 and 2033), a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks in exchange for Leonard, who helped Toronto win its only NBA title in his only season with the club in 2018-19. The club selected Dick with 13th overall in the 2023 draft. He averaged 20 minutes and 9.2 points per game over the course of his three seasons in Canada. “It makes me think about the last three years,” Dick said in the hours before tipoff in Vancouver on Saturday. “It’s kind of bittersweet, but at the same time, it’s NBA basketball.” The 22-year-old grew up and played high school and collegiate basketball in Kansas before he was drafted by Toronto. “Me being from Kansas and going all the way out to Toronto, the first time I’m living away from my family,” Dick added. “(Toronto) kind of welcomed me with open arms all the way. That’s why it’s kind of bittersweet.” The trade faced complications, with the Clippers and Raptors opting to not conclude the deal until the NBA had finished its salary cap circumvention investigation into the Clippers. The NBA opened its file in September into whether a $28 million endorsement contract involving Leonard broke league rules. The 35-year-old is working his way back to fitness and is not expected to play in the short-term. Leonard is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games. The investigation left Dick in limbo as he waited for the league to wrap up its work before the trade could be completed. “Fortunately, around that time I was on vacation with my family,” he said. “It was easy to have them help me keep my head on straight and not really focus on other stuff. “On the basketball side of it, it was really just me doing my individual stuff and being ready for whatever the decision called for.” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said he’s looking for the Wichita-born forward to become more consistent from the three-point line. “I had a talk with him this summer about getting to be a 38-, 40-per-cent three-point shooter,” said Lue, who added he’s unsure if Dick’s confidence took a hit. “He was pretty close in his first year in the league.” Dick shot 36 per cent from beyond the arc in his first season, but dipped to 30 per cent by the time he left Toronto. “He’s very talented and being able to cut the way he does, slash the way he does, to play in transition,” Lue said. “Add that to his game I think it would make him a very good player.” Dick acknowledged before the game that he’s looking to re-establish himself outside the arc and rediscover confidence in his shooting. “I think an underrated thing that maybe a lot of ex-NBA players have learned, that I’m starting to learn more, is how to find a rhythm,” he said, adding that he’s working to not force shots as often as he did when he started in the league. “I can create my rhythm through defensive stops, through energy, through communication where I’m feeling in tune with the game. I never know when my first shot is going to come but when it does come, I’m feeling loose, confident and ready to make them.” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said he and Dick were able to text Friday and have a little bit of a catch-up before Saturday’s game. “He’s one of the most talented players in his draft class and I think he’s going to have an amazing career,” Rajakovic said. “He just needs to be consistent, to have a consistent opportunity and he’s going to shine.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 10, 2026. Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
