I see all sorts of answers online, but am not fully convinced. I tried finding some research on the longevity of clothes between wash and wash + dry. Considering that it dries for hours just the mechanical movement should damage the clothes I would assume?
As others have said, both washers and dryers let clothes tumble around uncontrollably for hours at a time which can do varying levels of damage.
My best unscientific advice from doing both a lot is to keep load sizes small. Reduces the friction and theoretically reduces the drying time, which also reduces damage. Also, if drying tshirts with ink prints, flip them inside out to protect the ink.