NOVEMBER 6: Siakam will return from shoulder surgery on Sunday against the Nets, Nurse said today, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link). He’ll be on a minutes restriction and it’s unclear whether he’ll start.
NOVEMBER 5: Raptors forward Pascal Siakam might return to the team’s lineup next week. Head coach Nick Nurse said that Siakam is “getting closer every day,” according to a series of tweets from Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
Nurse stated that Siakam has made significant progress in his return from shoulder surgery, noting that he is ahead of schedule. He will likely start out on a minutes restriction. Siakam was in Los Angeles earlier today receiving clearance from the doctor who performed the surgery, but returned to Toronto and was doing some work on the court before the game tonight versus the Cavaliers.
Nurse also said next Wednesday could be a good opportunity to see whether Siakam is ready to play, as there are two days in between Toronto’s matchups with the Nets on Sunday and the Celtics on Wednesday.
All of the information was relayed by Lewenberg.
Siakam was an All-Star for the first time in 2019/20, but struggled with his shot last season. He’ll be looking to return to form for the surging Raptors, who have won five in a row and are now 6-3.
Here’s a couple more Raptors injury notes:
- Forward Yuta Watanabe has been inching closer to a return. Nurse said Watanabe’s movement has improved recently in practices but he’s still “probably a little bit away,” per Lewenberg (Twitter link).
- Rookie Scottie Barnes, who missed a couple games with a sprained thumb, returned to the starting lineup tonight against the Cavs.
I nabbed Siakam, Cade & Klay Thompson for my IL in fantasy, late league. Cade is already starting to pay off, Siakam back sooner than I thought, heres to Klay coming back decent.
Spicyy
Would Raptors still be interested in moving Siakam. Especially now that Barnes has looked so good. Definitely want to see how he plays. His shooting was down last year. So this injury really could have affected that.
Not for cents on the $, even with the down year last year he’s still one of their top players, if not their best. This teams loaded with two way players, every one in their starting lineup is capable of avg close to 20 ppg nights and can defend.
Maybe they trade him for Simmons, which might be best case scenario for Philly at this point.
Excited to see are top 5 on the floor at the same time.