Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

COVID Updates: Gobert, Holiday, Jackson, Moon, Mykhailiuk

January 6th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rudy Gobert has entered the league’s health and safety protocols. The Jazz center returned two rapid negative tests on Thursday but his PCR test overnight came back positive, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links). Of course, Gobert’s COVID-19 positive in March 2020 led to postponements and cancellations across the sports world. The big man is having another fine season, averaging 15.5 PPG and 15.1 RPG.

We have more on players entering or exiting the health and safety protocols:

Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday has entered the protocols, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. Holiday, who was also in protocols last season, joins teammates George Hill, Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton.
After eight teammates exited protocols this week, Pistons guard Frank Jackson entered the protocols, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. Jackson is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.
Clippers guard Xavier Moon has entered the protocols, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Moon signed a second 10-day contract under the hardship exception on Tuesday.
Raptors swingman Svi Mykhailiuk has cleared the protocols and is available for Friday’s game against Utah, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Walker, Johnson, Tatum, VanVleet

January 4th, 2022 at 9:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though Knicks point guard Kemba Walker just missed his third consecutive game (a 104-94 win over the Pacers) due to left knee soreness, team doctors have determined that there is no structural damage to the ligament that would require surgery, per Steve Popper of Newsday.

“He warmed up in OKC, tweaked something,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s got some soreness so we’ll let it clear up and then we’ll go from there.”

Thibodeau removed Walker, who had begun the 2021/22 season as a starter, from New York’s lineup entirely in late November. COVID-19 and injury absences necessitated a pivot, and Walker played well in his return. During his six games back, Walker averaged 19.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 6.0 APG for the Knicks.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Celtics All-Star wing Jayson Tatum discussed his experience with 40-year-old veteran swingman Joe Johnson, a former seven-time All-Star signed by Boston to a 10-day hardship exception. The team opted to not sign Johnson to a second 10-day deal after his first expired. “We all enjoyed the time that he was here,” Tatum said, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). “The ultimate professional and somebody a lot of us look up to and obviously, we would have loved to [have] kept him around.” Johnson played in just one game during his 10 days with the team, scoring on his only field goal attempt. Tatum said that Johnson continues to watch Celtics games and that he and Johnson still text each other.
Tatum also noted that his body is in better shape returning from COVID-19 protocols this season, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald tweets. The Celtics forward was hit hard by the novel coronavirus during the 2020/21 NBA season. “I feel a lot better with everything,” Tatum said, per Murphy. “My quarantine was shorter, my body feels a lot better, comparing my first couple of days back practicing than last year when I first came back.”
Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet is letting his play do the talking, emerging as a legitimate candidate to be named to his first All-Star team this season, writes Nekias Duncan of Basketball News. Duncan observes that VanVleet is one of just three Eastern Conference guards, along with James Harden and Trae Young, averaging at least 20 PPG and 6 APG, while boasting a True Shooting percentage of 58% or higher. VanVleet is averaging 21.3 PPG, 6.7 APG, and 4.9 RPG, with a 58.5% true shooting percentage, across 31 games. The 27-year-old, who won a title with Toronto in 2019, boasts an overall shooting line of .441/.405/.880.

COVID-19 Updates: Raptors, Thunder, Stewart, Freedom, Strus

January 4th, 2022 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

After briefly having no players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols for the first time in weeks, the Raptors placed Svi Mykhailiuk and Yuta Watanabe in the protocols today, tweets Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (via Twitter), only three players on the Raptors’ roster have avoided entering the protocols in the last month. Two of those players – David Johnson (injury) and Goran Dragic (personal) – have been away from the team, leaving Chris Boucher as the lone active player not to be affected.

Here are a few more protocol-related updates:

Thunder guard Tre Mann and big man Darius Bazley have cleared the health and safety protocols, acting head coach Mike Wilks said today (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). That leaves rookie Jeremiah Robinson-Earl as the only Oklahoma City player still in the protocols.
Celtics center Enes Freedom returned to practice today, having exited the COVID-19 protocols, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Aaron Nesmith is the only Celtic who remains in the protocols.
Isaiah Stewart has cleared the protocols and met the Pistons in Charlotte, tweets James Edwards III of The Athletic. It’s unclear if the big man will be available on Wednesday vs. the Hornets or if he’ll need more time to get back into game condition.
Heat guard Max Strus is no longer in the protocols, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Miami now has four players in the protocols, with six hardship additions on 10-day deals, so not all of those players will be able to be active going forward.
The full list of players in the COVID-19 protocols can be found right here.

NBA Reschedules 11 Postponed Games

January 3rd, 2022 at 7:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA has announced the rescheduling of the 11 games postponed in December due to COVID-19 issues, listing the changes in a press release.

Additionally, eight other scheduled games have been shifted to accommodate the postponements. A pair of others have been shifted to new starting times.

Most notably, Kyle Lowry‘s return to Toronto will take place two days earlier than anticipated, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN points out.

The Raptors will now host the Bulls on February 3 instead of the Heat. Lowry’s return will occur on Feb. 1 in Miami’s rescheduled visit. The game that Toronto was originally scheduled to play that day against the Hawks will now be played on January 31.

The first two makeups will occur next week — the Nets at the Trail Blazers on Monday, January 10 and the Pistons at the Bulls on Tues, Jan. 11.

“There’s no easy way to do this,” Nets coach Steve Nash said to Bontemps and other media members. “If we were expecting it to be a sweet little add to the schedule, and no blood drawn, that would be foolish.”

The other rescheduled dates are as follows:

New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: Jan. 25
Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: Jan. 26
Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls
- Previous: Dec. 22
- New: Jan. 26
Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors
- Previous: Dec. 16
- New: Feb. 3
Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs
- Previous: Dec. 29
- New: Feb. 3
Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets
- Previous: Dec. 21
- New: Feb. 17
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors
- Previous: Dec. 20
- New: March 4
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets
- Previous: Dec. 30
- New: March 7
Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: March 31

Isaac Bonga's Return Marks The End Of Hardship Contracts

January 2nd, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

With Isaac Bonga clearing protocols, the Raptors aren’t currently eligible for any more 10-day hardship contracts, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. The team’s latest injury report lists Bonga as out for today’s game due to conditioning, rather than the health and safety protocols. Today marks the end of Daniel Oturu‘s 10-day deal.

Wizards Sign Tremont Waters

January 1st, 2022 at 3:04pm CST by Rory Maher

JANUARY 1: Washington has announced the signing of Waters, who inked a 10-day hardship contract with the team.

DECEMBER 31: The Wizards plan to sign Tremont Waters to a 10-day deal via a hardship exception, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Waters spent the past 10 days on a deal with the Raptors.

As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca relays (Twitter link), Waters is technically under contract for Toronto’s game Friday against the Clippers, but he won’t dress after lining up a new opportunity with the Wizards. He appeared in two games with the Raptors, averaging 4.0 PPG, 2.o RPG, 3.5 APG, and 2.0 SPG in 21 MPG.

Waters, who will turn 24 next month, was selected by the Celtics with the 51st overall pick in the 2019 draft and spent his first two professional seasons as a two-way player in Boston. In 37 career games with the Celtics, Waters averaged 3.8 PPG, 0.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 9.6 MPG.

After the C’s opted not to bring him back for the 2021/22 season, he joined the Wisconsin Herd – Milwaukee’s G League affiliate – and has averaged 17.2 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 2.7 SPG on .421/.364/.714 shooting in 13 NBAGL games (31.5 MPG) this season.

The Wizards currently have seven players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, including guards Spencer Dinwiddie, Aaron Holiday, Raul Neto, and 10-day replacement player Brad Wanamaker. Waters will serve as a stopgap solution until some of those players return.

Raptors Temporarily Close Doors To Fans

December 31st, 2021 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Raptors‘ ownership group, announced on Thursday that the team won’t sell tickets for games at Scotiabank Arena for the next three weeks. Ontario has introduced a new temporary limit of 1,000 people in an indoor venue due to the effects of COVID-19 in the province, so the Raptors will play without fans in the short term rather than opening their doors to just a few hundred of them.

COVID-19 Updates: Vogel, Lue, Pelicans, Raptors, Pokusevski

December 31st, 2021 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

One Los Angeles team is getting its head coach out of the NBA’s health and safety protocols today, while the other has placed their coach in the protocols.

The Lakers got the good news, as Frank Vogel has cleared the protocols and will be back on the sidelines for the team on Friday night vs. Portland, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). David Fizdale will return to his role as Vogel’s lead assistant after serving as the acting head coach for the last 12 days.

Meanwhile, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has entered the protocols, according to an announcement from the team. Lue, the 10th head coach to be affected by the protocols this month, will be replaced in the short term by assistant Brian Shaw.

Here are more protocol-related updates from across the NBA:

The Pelicans got Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, and Jose Alvarado back at practice today following their respective stints in the COVID-19 protocols, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. New Orleans isn’t entirely out of the woods though — center Jonas Valanciunas has entered the protocols, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Raptors rookie Justin Champagnie has exited the protocols, leaving Isaac Bonga as the only player from the team’s standard roster still affected. However, one of Toronto’s replacement players – D.J. Wilson – has now entered the protocols, Murphy notes.
Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski is no longer in the protocols and will be available for Friday’s contest vs. the Knicks, says Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes Clear Protocols For Raptors

December 30th, 2021 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

After experiencing a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak this month, the Raptors appear to be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. Three of the team’s starters – Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes – exited the protocols and returned to practice on Thursday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

It was a relatively full practice today for the Raptors, who only have Justin Champagnie and Isaac Bonga still in the protocols. As Lewenberg tweets, head coach Nick Nurse expects to have everyone but Champagnie and Bonga available on Friday vs. the Clippers, which means he could have a surplus of lineup options rather than trying to cobble together five-man groups using whoever is available.

The plan is for some combination of VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., Khem Birch, and Precious Achiuwa to be in the starting five, according to Nurse.

COVID-19 Roundup: Raptors, Kings, Thunder, Knicks

December 28th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The hits keep coming for the NBA. While some good news has arrived regarding the health status of a handful of players, several more have been sidelined in the league’s coronavirus protocols. Here are the newest developments concerning which players have entered or exited the health and safety protocols:

Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa and point guard Malachi Flynn have exited the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Lewenberg notes that power forward Pascal Siakam and wing Gary Trent Jr., who cleared protocols yesterday, have been listed as probable ahead of Toronto’s game against the Sixers this evening. Center Khem Birch, who also cleared protocols yesterday, remains questionable to play, as do Achiuwa and Flynn. Following this news, the total sum of Raptors players still in the league’s COVID-19 protocols has fallen to five.
Kings center Alex Len has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, per James Ham of ESPN 1320 (via Twitter). Because the 7-footer has not played a game since December 15, Ham notes that Len remains questionable to play tonight against the Thunder.
Thunder center Derrick Favors is now in the league’s coronavirus protocols, reports Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Favors is the sixth Oklahoma City player currently in COVID-19 protocols. Head coach Mark Daigneault also entered the protocols today.
The Knicks have announced (Twitter link) that little-used guard Wayne Selden has entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The 6’5″ veteran wing has not been a part of the rotation this season for New York, having suited up for just three games thus far.
Keep tabs on all the NBA’s current coronavirus absences via our daily tracker.