Raptors’ Rajaković praises Dick’s physical progress

After hitting a wall midway through his sophomore season, Gradey Dick’s strength and conditioning has become a point of intrigue.

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković addressed the subject at training camp on Thursday.

“Definitley, and we’re noting that on both ends of the floor,” said Rajaković about Dick adding strength in the offseason. “Defensively he’s doing a much better job in contact, he’s doing a much better job of rebounding the ball, much better job of staying in front of the guys.”

Encouraging words from the coach, especially considering how much Dick struggled on defence last season and how those issues grew throughout the year as he grew visibly more fatigued. He was run ragged during his sophomore season, at one point leading the NBA in distance travelled.

Samson Folk has focused on this plenty, including in his review of Dick’s 2024-25 season:

I thought, at least partially, that a big reason for Dick’s fall off over the course of the season was the fact that he lost some of the mass that he acquired during the offseason. Not only did he ramp up to over 30 minutes per game, but he was also the NBA’s leader in miles traveled and screens used through the first quarter of the season. The Raptors were running him ragged, and he hit a huge wall. Fatigue and weight loss made all of the physical off ball battles even more difficult, and they certainly didn’t help him in his attempts to finish his winding, twisty jumpers and finishes at the bucket that require a lot of core tension to reward his elite touch.

At the start of the season, for example, Dick was rewarding a whole bunch of different play types, and was actually quite good out of drives.

This is context, not an excuse, for what it’s worth. Dick’s fitness, as I highlighted years ago on the podcast, was a concern for teams in the draft process. How he builds his body up for the NBA is a real part of his development, and a failure to do so will necessitate different routes to success.

Dick’s physicality will be a huge swing factor on both sides of the ball.

“Offensively, we’re really focusing with him to get him to play (a) simple offensive game, Rajaković continued. “Like when he has open shots and even slightly contested shots just to be ready to shoot the ball and just to play with a lot of aggressiveness. His physical shape and adding strength definitely is helping with that.”

Check out Samson’s more recent piece on how Dick can succeed this season here: Designing a great season for Gradey Dick

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