Sophomore Gradey Dick is bigger and better. Will his role with the Raptors be bigger and better, too?

MONTREAL—Gradey Dick is bigger and stronger, more confident and comfortable.
You see it at first glance: more size and more muscular definition than the relatively scrawny teenager who showed up at the Raptors training camp a year ago. His coaches and teammates notice it at a more granular level: He’s just a slightly better, more complete NBA player.
“Last year, when he walked in, he could barely dunk the ball and now he’s playing above the rim a little bit easier,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said after the Raptors practised at the UQAM Sports Centre on Thursday.
“He’s not shying away from contact, offensively and defensively. I think it’s going to help his overall game, feeling more confident in his body that he’s capable of doing things.”
Much of the change came naturally, to be expected when a youngster goes from a teenager in a college environment to a 20-year-old, soon to be 21, benefiting from all the advantages afforded by a professional sports organization.
Dick got great training from the Raptors, great nutrition assistance, great advice from teammates who had been where he was. And whether he has gained eight or 10 or 15 pounds, all numbers bandied about in conversation with his coaches, that isn’t the point.
The six-foot-six forward is remade significantly from the player who finished his rookie season last April.
“It’d be around 13 (pounds) if we’re being specific,” Dick said. “I don’t know it’s such a debate … I’m bigger, that’s all it is.
“It’s not a huge change, to be honest … it’s more like the core strength and the exercises and movement that we do in the weight room that really help me hold my ground.”
The Raptors have made a heavy investment in Dick and see him as central to the team’s longer-term success. They had assistant coach Ivo Simovic spend significant this past summer with Dick on skill development and opened a roster spot for him by letting Gary Trent Jr. leave as a free agent.
“He’s complementing our guys really well,” Rajakovic said. “He can space the floor really well, he runs in transition … and he’s a very good cutter.
“He does not necessarily demand the ball, but when he gets the ball, he’s also capable to make a play from there. Is that finding a big? Attacking the paint? We worked a lot this summer getting him in the paint and to the sweet spot and being able to (make plays) from there.”
Dick’s summer was spent on getting bigger physically and expanding his game. He has to be a better defender, and there are aspects of play off the ball on offence that need work. But he is exponentially better today than he was halfway through last season.
“You can see he’s definitely gotten a lot better,” teammate Immanuel Quickley said. “He’s understanding the game a little bit more.
“Defensively, you can see he’s understanding a little bit more and that comes with experience. The more you play in the NBA, you just kind of get a feel, because it’s a lot different from college … It almost feels like a different sport sometimes.”
Just where Dick fits in the Raptors rotation will be determined during the rest of training camp and the exhibition season. Is he best utilized as a fifth starter with Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl where his offensive skills would be, at best, a fourth option, or is he better as a key scoring option on a second unit? Rajakovic is not nearly ready to make that decision.
Dick thinks his best skills might be creating shots and space.
“Just trying to be versatile in the way that I move around the court,” he said. “I always talk about continuing to find open gaps for my shots and allow the space on the court to open up or other guys.
“I feel it’s just paying off them, finding my role in that.”