Former KU guard Gradey Dick signs his 1st NBA contract. Here are some of the details
Former Kansas basketball guard Gradey Dick has signed a rookie scale contract with the Toronto Raptors, according to the official NBA transactions log.
Dick, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound, 19-year old Wichita native, is ticketed to make $21,422,550 over the next four seasons, according to hoopsrumors.com.
He will receive $4,536,720 his rookie season (2023-24) provided he’s signed a contract worth 120% of the rookie scale amount that is awarded to the No. 13 pick in the draft. Virtually all first-rounders receive the 120% bump in their rookie deals.
Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years with team options for the third and fourth years.
Keith Smith, editor of Spotrac.com, also confirmed Dick’s signing on Sunday. The Raptors made no official announcement.
Dick, chosen No. 13 overall by Toronto in the June 22 Draft, averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds a game his one-and-done season at KU.
Dick will be joined by former KU forward David McCormack and former Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell on the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Summer League team, which will play from July 7-17 in Las Vegas.
McCormack played in Turkey last season, his first as a professional player. Nowell recently agreed to a two-way contract with the Raptors as an undrafted free agent.
Gradey Dick speaks on variety of topics
Dick participated in an entertaining Q&A session with Raptors.com after last Monday’s introductory news conference with media at OCO Athletic Center in Toronto.
He was asked how he learned to perform a stellar impersonation of Donald Duck.
“(From) my grandpa. He can speak it clearly. Sometimes if I don’t do it for a while it’s a little shaky, but his is perfect,” Dick said.
Dick recently delivered his impersonation on Sirius XM radio.
Dick was asked: How does one even begin to learn the Donald Duck voice?
“I don’t know. He (grandfather) is goofy. I just remember being little and him talking like that.”
Dick — he acquired a silver bengal cat named Milky after KU defeated the Missouri Tigers 95-67 last nonconference season in Columbia, Missouri — was asked by a Raptors website reporter: “Can we expect any good-natured mascot-related ribbing in the NBA?”
“I don’t know if I need any more pets,” Dick said. “I want to get a puppy sometime in the future, but if I have him and Milky it’s gonna be a bit of a full house so I don’t know about that.”
Asked his favorite breed of dog, Dick replied … “I really like Australian Shepherds. They’ve got to run a lot so we’ll see. I think I need more of a house dog.”
On the topic of Drake, a rapper, singer, songwriter and actor from Toronto that Dick says he wants to meet ... Dick listed “Scorpion” as his favorite album of the artist.
Favorite song?
“Legend.”
Asked if he was a “basketball analyst guy,” Dick said:
“Of course. My dad (Bart) and I made a principle when I was younger that everything you do or want to do, write it out on paper so you can see it come to fruition. It started with chores, keeping responsible, finishing your chores. Turning it into my shooting, once I got consistent with that, knowing how many days I’d shoot, percentage I’ve shot for the day, knowing the days of the week where I shot good, I shot bad, why I did that, being able to go back to those papers and still see it.”
