INGLEWOOD — Shooting guard Gradey Dick came to the Clippers in the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors and brought forward Brandon Ingram to Los Angeles. Ingram, a two-time All-Star, was the focus of the deal; Dick, a struggling former first-round draft pick out of Kansas, was the and-1.
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Ingram was slated to be a starter for the Clippers before having heel and Achilles surgery, which has sidelined him indefinitely. Dick is simply looking to establish himself as a rotation-caliber player. Ingram hasn’t played a minute; Dick has become a key playmaker off the bench in just three games.
Dick plays with hustle, chasing after loose balls and running down his man on every play. Against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, he dove off the court to successfully save a wayward pass. He crashes the glass, averaging 3.7 rebounds, and comes up with steals (0.7).
He also can shoot, averaging 8.0 points on 57.1% shooting from the field and 50% from 3-point range while logging 16 minutes per game.
His play earned him a spot in Coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation off the bench, and he is expected to see additional time when the Clippers (1-2) host the Lakers (3-0) on Wednesday at Intuit Dome in a rematch of last week’s game, a 125-117 Clippers loss.
“I feel like I’ve been a player like that for a while now,” Dick said after Tuesday’s practice. “But it’s also something that Coach (Lue) wants. And so, especially coming into a new team like this, I’m trying to learn what’s going to get me on the floor, what’s going to keep me on the floor. And that just comes with creating extra possessions.
“So, if I can crash (the boards) and use my conditioning and all that, my energy to make extra possessions, I got to do that.”
Dick’s drive comes after a relatively unremarkable three seasons in Toronto. The 13th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft seemed to find his footing with the Raptors in 2024-25, starting all 54 games he played and averaged 14.6 points from the field and connected on 114 3-point attempts.
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But his numbers, as well as starts, fell off last season and the team eventually shut him down in April because of a lingering knee issue. Dick called the 2025-26 season a “learning experience.”
“I just use that (tough times) as my motivation, and I feel like that kind of made a fire in me that hasn’t really been in me, or like a new fire in me,” Dick said. “Yeah, new motivation and I love to play this game and I’m glad that I’m out here in L.A.”
Lue appreciates Dick’s energy, scrappiness and willingness to go hard every minute he’s on the court.
“If you look at the floor, he’s doing every single one of those things every single time,” Lue said. “That’s the energy we need from him and he’s been great.”
HACHIMURA RULED OUT
Forward Rui Hachimura will miss the second game against his former team because of soreness in his left quadricep. The former Laker did not participate in Tuesday’s practice after experiencing pain after the Clippers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday and was ruled out of Wednesday’s rematch at Intuit Dome.
Lue said Kobe Sanders will start in place of Hachimura, who has struggled with his shot through the first three games (26.3% from the field, 31.6% from 3-point range).
“Kobe finally had a couple games on his belt. That was kind of like his preseason, the first three games because he missed camp because he got hurt first day,” Lue said. “So, we’ll start Kobe and just hope Rui has a speedy recovery.”
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LAKERS AT CLIPPERS
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Intuit Dome
TV/Radio: KTLA (Ch. 5), ClipperVision, Spectrum SportsNet, 570 AM, 710 AM