Gradey Dick aims to make an instant impact for his new team.
The Toronto Raptors selected Dick with the 13th overall pick in the NBA draft on Thursday. The Kansas Jayhawks product averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his lone season playing NCAA basketball.
“I think the biggest thing that I can really provide and my biggest goal coming into this is making an instant impact early,” Dick told reporters in Toronto over Zoom donning a shining red suit with a Raptors fitted cap. “Coming into a team, especially like Toronto, and bring that shooting ability, the thing I take pride in the most.
“I actually just got off FaceTime with Scottie (Barnes) and a player like him where he could kind of do a lot of different things versatile-wise, bringing a combo like that and the things that I do.”
The six-foot-eight, 205-pound guard shot 40.3 per cent from three-point range with Kansas, a sore spot for the Raptors in 2022-2023, who finished 28th in the NBA in three-point percentage.
General manager Bobby Webster said the team had Dick in a group of his own among the shooters available when it came time for Toronto to make its pick.
“I’m sure we’ll see how it all plays out over the next couple of years,” he told reporters at the Raptors’ practice facility. “I think probably the size, shooting, IQ probably stood out a bit.”
‘It’s a dream come true’: Dick believes Toronto is ‘perfect place’ coming from Kansas
“I think that was it, he’s not just a shooter,” Webster added. “He knows how to play off the ball, he knows how to make backdoor cuts, he could pass well, he rebounds well. So I think he’s more of a well-rounded player even though he’s probably gonna get pegged early as just a shooter.”
It is the third time Toronto has had a lottery selection in the past decade. The Raptors finished 41-41 this past season, having missed the playoffs for the second time in four years after falling in the play-in tournament to the Chicago Bulls.
It was also the Raptors’ lone pick of the draft. Toronto traded its second-round pick in the deal that brought centre Jakob Poeltl over from San Antonio at the trade deadline in February.
Dick pointed to his selfless attitude and competitive spirit, among other things, that he also looks to bring to the team.
And a chance to play for new Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is something that excites the rookie.
“I met him for the first time there (in Toronto) towards the end of my workout and just knew right then from there … if I ended up here, it would’ve been a super fun time just with him around and his personality and my personality getting along really well,” Dick said.
“That’s why I’m sitting here so excited and ready to hit the ground running when I get there (Toronto).”
He also referred to Toronto as one of his favourite visits in the pre-draft process.
“A couple of weeks ago, I was really working out with the team and seeing the city for the first time, I couldn’t think of a better place for me to get drafted to,” Dick said. “Just the city and the people combined, it’s amazing.”
Raptors’ Gradey Dick details prior relationship with Scottie Barnes through agency
The Raptors sit in a place of uncertainty with starting point guard Fred VanVleet and Poeltl both being free agents this off-season.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, assistant GM and VP of player personnel Dan Tolzman said Toronto was considering moving up in the draft, drawing a question of whether the team would shift its direction.
However, the Raptors stayed put on Thursday.
“No, I think we have some big free agents,” Webster said when asked about the possibility of going into next year with the same core group and having not made any big trades. “Next week we’ll be able to decide, we’ll talk to them and see where they are.
“Enjoy another week (of the) news cycle of rumours and gossip.”
However, Webster did say the team will further address its shooting this off-season.
“I don’t think you could ever add too much shooting,” he said. “You could just stack it on top of each other.
“The other part is, could they play on the other end, can they do other things too?”
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
