Injuries apparently played a role in the Raptors decision to waive two-way player D.J. Carton.
With Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown dealing with injuries, Toronto wanted to add depth. Carton couldn’t provide that in the short run because he’s expected to miss the next three-to-four weeks with an ankle injury of his own, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
It’s possible that Carton will be re-signed at some point, Scotto adds.
We have more on the Raptors:
- While the team awaits an update on Barnes, who injured his right ankle and foot against the Knicks on Monday, RJ Barrett will have to ramp up his production in Barnes’ absence, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Barrett wound up with 30 points, eight rebounds and four assists against his former team, and did his best to get the Raptors good looks in crunch time, Koreen notes. However, after this season Barrett could see a much different role if the Raptors get a high lottery pick who commands a high percentage of the offense.
- In an extensive interview with Michael Grange of Sportsnet, Barrett says that playing for coach Darko Rajakovic has been a boon for his career. “He’s very, you know, straight to the point, but very encouraging, very encouraging. He believes in me,” Barrett said. “Whenever a coach has that spirit, you want to run through a wall for him.” Barrett still has two years and over $57MM remaining on his contract but that might be considered a relative bargain with the way he’s expanded his game since he was acquired from the Knicks.
- Quickley had more imaging done on his injured left elbow that has kept him out since Nov. 10, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He’s progressing, per the Raptors, but he still hasn’t been cleared to ramp up or practice. There’s still no timeline for his return.
This gives dj carton plenty of time to work on his new single “milk money” lol
Get it
Is it going to headline the album “O.J.”?
The trade could look very bad for the Knicks at some point. RJ is thriving and while he doesn’t bring the defense OG can he is clearly a far superior offensive creator. He is a beast downhill and gets to the tin and FT line. IQ has shown flashes and when both are healthy bring a lot to a roster.
Lmao you must be new here. Ask Knicks fans how much they miss him when his numbers crash down to earth in a couple weeks like every other season.
It’s now 55 games with the Raptors with wildly more efficient offensive numbers. 18 PER vs 14 with Knicks and strong shooting splits across the board. He’s taken a step up.