3 Raptors players in line for more playing time after Bruce Brown's surgery

When news dropped this past week that Bruce Brown Jr. was undergoing knee surgery and would be reevaluated in three weeks, there was a rush of negative emotions: frustration at another injury holding back the Toronto Raptors, bewilderment that the Raptors picked up his team option despite this injury, and despair that Brown will ever be traded.

Setting aside the transactional elements, however, Brown's injury absence does have a silver lining: there is playing time to be passed around the roster. Which players will get more time on the court because of Brown's injury?

Let's look at three players who can expect their minute totals to go up when the regular season begins.

No. 1: Gradey Dick

If Bruce Brown were healthy heading into the season, he had a reasonable shot at winning the starting shooting guard spot. His main competition for the job was rising sophomore wing Gradey Dick.

Now Dick is almost a lock to begin the season in the starting lineup, and he may never relinquish it. The Raptors need his shooting to help space the court; if he can bring decent defense and tertiary shot creation, that's all the better.

The Raptors could hand Dick a lot of minutes to start the season if he can play at both the 2 and the 3, and without Brown there aren't a lot of proven options to take his place. That leaves plenty of playing time for rising players like Dick.