Biggest X-Factor for the Toronto Raptors is not who you would expect

The 2024-25 season is an important one for the Toronto Raptors.

They face a long list of unknowns heading into the year. Last season the Raptors completely remade their roster, sending out everyone from Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby to Dennis Schroder and Otto Porter Jr. The only players who have been on the roster longer than 20 months are Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher.

How will this new group of players fit together? Who is the No. 2 offensive option behind Scottie Barnes? What will the bench rotation look like? Why didn't they add even one small forward?

In the midst of all of the questions, it's natural to look to the highest-paid players on the roster as the X-Factors for this upcoming season. Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and the newly-paid Immanuel Quickley. They are the highest-profile names on the roster.

Bleacher Report recently looked at the X-Factor for each team heading into next season, and somewhat surprisingly, they didn't pick any of those three names. Instead, author Grant Hughes pointed to a second-year wing and highlighted how his growth will play a major part in the Raptors' future.

That player? Gradey Dick

Is Gradey Dick the Raptors' X-Factor?

Hughes explains that Gradey Dick was drafted for his shooting, but that the Raptors' organization from the front office to the coaches expect the young wing to be an on-ball star as well, running pick-and-roll actions and making reads and passes off the dribble.

That's a skillset he didn't get to use much last season, but in Summer League this past July he got to run the offense. An injury knocked him out of Las Vegas early, but in his first game he dropped 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, with a few real flashes of playmaking vision.

Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are all adept ball-handlers and playmakers, so adding Gradey Dick to the mix as a similarly-capable player gives head coach Darko Rajakovic all sorts of flexibility in running actions, and it forces defenses to always be defending the entire court. Any player handling the ball is a threat to score or pass, and that's difficult to defend from mutliple angles.

That's the sum of Hughes' argument, but he could also have pointed to the one open spot in Toronto's starting lineup for next season. In one sense, that's the strongest argument for Gradey Dick as the team's X-Factor. Four of the five starters are set; if the Raptors have a player they can rely on seizing that role, it goes a long way to making their starting lineup a dominant one.

On the other hand, it's hard to look at the player Gradey Dick is and has been and think his growth is the biggest X-Factor for the team. Unless he goes from rotation-worthy to budding star, a move no one is predicting, his impact on the Raptors' long-term future is somewhat muted. He is important, and the Raptors would love for him to prove himself ready to start and able to contribute as more than just a shooter, but a team's fifth starter can only move the needle so much.

All three of the team's on-ball offensive "stars" are capable of taking a massive step forward. Scottie Barnes' growth from good to great or even elite will determine whether the Raptors are a contender. If Scottie Barnes goes from fringe All-Star to All-NBA, the Raptors suddenly have a true superstar to raise their long-term ceiling.

If Immanuel Quickley levels up after receiving his big payday it gives the Raptors two offensive stars to build around; if he doesn't, they have to somehow find that star with limited flexibility moving forward. RJ Barrett continuing his momentum from the Olympics would be a big deal as well, potentially giving the Raptors three real building blocks for the future.

Each of those potential developments would matter more to the Raptors this season and beyond than Gradey Dick demonstrating he can pass. What's exciting is that each of those situations is plausible to happen this year; if two or three or even all four happen, the Raptors' future transforms. This group is young and talented enough that real growth is possible, and that growth could propel Toronto to a brighter tomorrow.

Gradey Dick is important, but the entire roster feels like an X-Factor for next season and beyond.