Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa Enter Protocols

December 21st, 2021 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

After placing guards Fred VanVleet and Malachi Flynn in the health and safety protocols earlier in the day, the Raptors have now added two frontcourt players to that list. Rookie forward Scottie Barnes and center Precious Achiuwa have become the sixth and seventh Raptors in the COVID-19 protocols, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

If Barnes and Achiuwa have tested positive for COVID-19, they’ll be out for 10 days or until they return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart. VanVleet, Flynn, Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent Jr., and Dalano Banton are the other players in the protocols for Toronto.

The injury report is getting crowded for the Raptors, who will also be without Justin Champagnie (non-COVID illness), David Johnson (left calf strain), and Goran Dragic (not with team) for Wednesday’s game in Chicago. That leaves the club with just six of its initial 16 players available, and one of those six – Khem Birch – is listed as questionable due to a right knee issue.

However, as Wojnarowski reports (Twitter links), there’s no indication at this point that Wednesday’s game will be postponed. Toronto has reportedly reached deals with four replacement players – Nik Stauskas, Brandon Goodwin, Tremont Waters, and Juwan Morgan – and could sign more before tip-off tomorrow night,, assuming there’s time for those players to clear COVID-19 testing and travel to Chicago.

The NBA already postponed one Raptors/Bulls contest last Thursday, so the league will likely want to avoid having to push back a second game between the two teams.

Raptors To Sign Tremont Waters; VanVleet, Flynn In Protocols

December 21st, 2021 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have placed point guards Fred VanVleet and Malachi Flynn in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Toronto now has five players in the protocols, including three starters.

In order to address the newly-created hole in their backcourt, the Raptors intend to sign G League guard Tremont Waters to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Toronto also reportedly lined up hardship deals with Brandon Goodwin, Juwan Morgan, and Nik Stauskas on Monday, so Waters will be their fourth 10-day addition. None of those deals are official yet.

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. 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.

Due to the NBA’s new temporary roster rules, Waters’ deal won’t count against Toronto’s team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Raptors To Sign Nik Stauskas

December 20th, 2021 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Nik Stauskas is returning to the NBA, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link), who reports that the veteran shooting guard has agreed to sign with the Raptors. While Stein’s report doesn’t offer additional specifics, it seems relatively safe to assume Stauskas will get a 10-day contract via the hardship exception.

Stauskas, who was born in Mississauga, Ontario, was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 draft and appeared in 335 regular season games from 2014-19 for the Kings, Sixers, Nets, Trail Blazers, and Cavaliers. He was a fairly reliable three-point threat (.353 3PT%) during that time, but didn’t show enough other skills to stick in the NBA.

After a brief stint overseas, Stauskas signed in the G League for the 2021 bubble and then returned to the NBAGL this season. In 12 games (38.3 MPG) in 2021/22 for the Grand Rapids Gold, the 28-year-old has recorded 21.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .429/.352/.915 shooting.

It has been a busy day for Toronto, as the team also reportedly reached deals with Brandon Goodwin and Juwan Morgan while placing Gary Trent Jr. in the health and safety protocols. The Raptors had their Monday night game postponed and won’t resume play until Wednesday in Chicago, so I’d expect them to wait a couple more days to officially finalize their signings in order to maximize each player’s 10 days.

Raptors To Sign Brandon Goodwin, Juwan Morgan; Gary Trent Jr. In Protocols

December 20th, 2021 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors, who have multiple players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, are signing a pair of replacement players, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). Guard Brandon Goodwin and forward Juwan Morgan are getting called up from the G League to join Toronto’s roster, Charania reports.

Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton entered the health and safety protocols over the weekend and the Raptors also placed Gary Trent Jr. in the protocols today, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link).

Goodwin, 26, has appeared in 97 NBA games since 2018 for Denver and Atlanta, averaging 4.7 PPG and 1.6 APG in 97 games (11.4 MPG). He has been playing for the Westchester Knicks in the G League this season, putting up 15.3 PPG, 7.0 APG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.9 SPG in seven contests (35.1 MPG) for New York’s affiliate.

Morgan, meanwhile, has averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .559/.388/.867 shooting in 13 games (31.6 MPG) for the Maine Celtics this season after spending the previous two years with the Jazz. The former Indiana Hoosier has appeared in 50 NBA games, but has been limited mostly to garbage time, averaging 1.4 PPG and 1.1 RPG in 5.6 MPG.

Goodwin and Morgan will sign 10-day contracts, and neither player’s deal will count against Toronto’s team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Magic-Raptors Off Monday, Nets-Wizards Postponed Tuesday

December 19th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Maher

In addition to the three games postponed on Sunday, the league also announced two more postponements: Magic vs. Raptors on Monday, and Nets vs. Wizards on Tuesday (via Twitter).

The Magic are decimated by injuries and COVID-19 at the moment, hence the postponement. The Nets currently have 10 players in the health and safety protocols, although they did play Saturday night against Orlando, a 100-93 loss. The Nets started three rookies against the Magic, and their bench was comprised entirely of players on 10-day contracts.

As our JD Shaw tweets, part of their reason for the postponements is that many of the players who would receive 10-day contracts via hardship exceptions are participating in the G League showcase event, which makes it difficult to find immediate replacements.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes tweets that 64 players and two head coaches have entered the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols over the past six days, which is approximately 13% of players signed to standard and two-way contracts, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (via Twitter).

Pascal Siakam In Health And Safety Protocols

December 18th, 2021 at 6:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Teammate Dalano Banton is in the protocols as well, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link).

There’s no word on whether either player tested positive for COVID-19, but if they did, they will miss a minimum of 10 days unless they return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart. They are the first two Toronto players to enter the protocols, according to our tracker.

Siakam has helped the Raptors climb up near the .500 mark after returning in early November from shoulder surgery. He is averaging 19.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 17 games. Banton has earned regular playing time in his first NBA season, averaging 4.1/2.3/1.8 in 12.7 minutes per night through 27 games.

Birch Could Return Monday

December 17th, 2021 at 9:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Khem Birch could return for the Raptors on Monday, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). Birch has been suffering from a bone bruise which still isn’t 100% healed yet, and says he’ll likely have to deal with it the throughout the season, Lewenberg relays.

Precious Achiuwa Out Of Protocols

December 16th, 2021 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa has cleared the health and safety protocols, tweets Eric Koreen of The Athletic. Koreen also provides a few injury updates on Raptors players — Dalano Banton (illness) is good to go, while OG Anunoby (hip) and Khem Birch (knee) will be listed as questionable for the club’s game vs. Golden State on Saturday.

Scotiabank Arena Will Be At 50% Fan Capacity

December 15th, 2021 at 7:51pm CST by Rory Maher

As a result of rising cases in Ontario, the province will be re-instituting limits on fan capacity in large venues. Thus, the Raptors will be limited to 50% fan capacity at Scotiabank Arena, beginning on Saturday vs. Golden State, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced. The Raptors, who are owned by MLSE, will also launch “Operation Mask Up (or out),” which will require all attendees to strictly adhere to all mask-wearing protocols or risk ejection from the building, per the announcement.

James Harden, Bruce Brown Newest Nets In COVID-19 Protocols

December 14th, 2021 at 5:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Nets suddenly have seen seven players enter the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the 24 hours. All-Star guard James Harden and versatile swingman Bruce Brown have joined five other afflicted comrades on the sidelines for Brooklyn, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

It was reported earlier that Nets role players LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, DeAndre’ Bembry, Jevon Carter, and James Johnson are all in the NBA’s coronavirus protocols.

Brooklyn currently has just reached the league minimum for available players to stave off a cancelation of its scheduled game against the Raptors tonight. In addition to the team’s seven coronavirus-related absences, the Nets are also still missing COVID-19 vaccine holdout Kyrie Irving and injured wing Joe Harris. All-Star forward Kevin Durant had been listed as questionable due to a sore ankle, but he’s set to suit up for the Nets now, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (via Twitter).

Bontemps notes in a separate tweet that both Brown and Harden had been in the Nets’ home arena, the Barclays Center, ahead of the team’s game against Toronto this evening. Brown had apparently even been warming up on the hardwood before he received the bad news.

Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that the Nets will be eligible to sign up to five players via the hardship provision due to this swath of absences. Marks adds that Brooklyn will be dinged approximately an extra $500K in tax penalties for each 10-day signing the team completes.

The league postponed two games this week for the Bulls, who are currently missing as many as 10 players due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Should further spread of the virus among the Brooklyn locker room continue, the league could take similar precautions with the Nets.