Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors’ Walter At Risk Of Missing Rest Of Season?

March 11th, 2025 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors guard Ja’Kobe Walter has missed the past two games due to what the team first listed as a right quad strain before updating the diagnosis to a right hip flexor injury.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays (via Twitter), the latest formal update from the Raptors indicates that Walter is currently limited to stand-still shooting and will be reevaluated in a couple days. However, Grange has heard that the rookie has a Grade 2 strain in his quad/hip area, which could sideline him for the next month.

Given that the regular season wraps up on April 13, it’s possible Walter won’t return in 2024/25 if that timeline turns out to be accurate, Grange adds.

The 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Walter missed most of his first month due to AC joint (shoulder) issues, but has been relatively healthy since returning on November 27. In 44 total appearances (11 starts), the former Baylor standout has averaged 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 20.0 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .405/.312/.746.

The 20-year-old has a guaranteed $3.64MM salary for next season and the Raptors will have to decide by October 31, 2025 whether or not to exercise his $3.81MM team option for 2026/27.

While Walter hasn’t had an especially memorable rookie year, he has flashed some promise for the rebuilding Raptors in recent weeks, including scoring 17 and 14 points in his two most recent healthy games last Tuesday and Friday, so it looks like a safe bet that his ’26/27 option will be picked up.

Atlantic Notes: Tucker, Tatum, Horford, Porzingis, George, Lawson

March 10th, 2025 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

P.J. Tucker, who signed a 10-day contract with the Knicks, said he had multiple options after Toronto waived him late last month. Knicks top executive Leon Rose had been Tucker’s agent earlier in his career.

“There were a few [options]. That was the thing — just trying to pick the right place,” Tucker told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post and other media members on Monday. “I always felt like the Knicks were my first option throughout the whole process, so I was happy to wait it out and be able to make that happen.”

Tucker signed the short-term deal with an understanding that he’ll stick around for the remainder of the season and playoffs if all goes according to plan, Bondy writes. Tucker had been sitting out the season with the Clippers until he was dealt twice before the trade deadline.

“It felt like I just got drafted again,” he said. “It’s like a whole new fresh energy, especially coming from home. It’s different. Trust me, it’s different.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics played without three key players against the Jazz on Monday, Brian Robb of MassLive.com notes. Jayson Tatum (knee) was downgraded from questionable to out. Al Horford (toe) was also downgraded to out and Kristaps Porzingis remained sidelined for the sixth consecutive game due to illness. Despite their injury designations, the absences of Tatum and Horford could simply be due to rest — Tatum played a season-high 45 minutes in Boston’s win over the Lakers on Saturday night, while Horford totaled 37 minutes.
Sixers forward Paul George (left groin soreness) did not play Monday at Atlanta and won’t play Wednesday at Toronto, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. George will be reevaluated prior to Friday’s game vs. Indiana. He has missed 23 games, counting Monday’s contest, in his first season with Philadelphia.
Ontario native A.J. Lawson got a chance to start for the injury-riddled Raptors in their home game against Utah on Friday and it was special to him. “It means everything (to start at home),” Lawson told Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “My parents got to see, my fam, friends, loved ones. It’s amazing. If I checked my phone right now, they’re probably all sending me snaps and videos, I’m super happy about it. I was trying to be serious, too, but I couldn’t hold it in, I had to smile. That’s my personality, I’m a positive, happy person.” Lawson also started the home game against Washington the following night.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Sixers, Horford, Raptors

March 9th, 2025 at 3:07pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse believes the team is on the cusp of figuring out its new treatment plan for star center Joel Embiid, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelpahi Inquirer. At the end of February, Embiid was shut down for the rest of the season with left knee swelling.

“…I think they are getting closer to that,” Nurse said on Saturday. “I think there’s another [evaluation] at some point today, as well. I know they met a lot and talked a lot and [saw] a lot of people… So we are working at it, but we just don’t have a definitive answer quite yet.”

Pompey notes that Philadelphia and Embiid have pondered the possibility of a follow-up surgery on the knee. He last went under the knife in February 2024 for a left meniscus surgery, but the former MVP is still dealing with pain and swelling in that knee.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers made a flurry of big signings during the 2024 offseason in anticipation of a deep playoff run. Forward Paul George agreed to a four-season, $211.6MM deal to join Philadelphia in free agency, while Embiid was inked to a three-year, $192.9MM contract extension, which won’t begin until 2026/27. Instead of being an MVP contender this year, however, the team has seen Embiid limited to 19 games, while many of its new additions have regressed mightily from their 2023/24 runs. In a column for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pompey details how Philadelphia’s summer splurge could adversely impact its roster-building in the years to come.
Celtics center Al Horford, one of the league’s oldest active players at age 38, received major praise from his colleagues following a 111-101 victory over the Lakers on Saturday, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Playing 37 minutes with Kristaps Porzingis unavailable, Horford scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four dimes. “Al is one of a kind,” All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum said. “…I’m the biggest Al Horford fan there is. I love that guy.” Head coach Joe Mazzulla, meanwhile, called the 6’9″ vet “a future Hall of Famer.” With his longevity, scoring output, team success (he’s won one NBA championship and two NCAA titles), and five All-Star appearances, Horford does have a case. “Al is just old reliable,” All-Star Celtics wing Jaylen Brown said. “He’s just the ultimate connector for us on both ends.” Across 50 games in his 18th pro season, Horford is averaging 8.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.6 steals per night, with a .418/.358/.893 shooting line.
With the postseason likely out of reach for this year’s Raptors, the team is prioritizing player development, notes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. To wit, Toronto is getting encouraging minutes from rookies Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, and Jamison Battle, plus solid performances from two-way players Jared Rhoden and A.J. Lawson. The club believes intense pregame workout sessions among its younger players have played a part in their growth. “We push ourselves in those workouts and we get out there in games and try to replicate that,” Shead said.

Contract Details: Two-Ways, Springer, Champagnie, Miller, Spencer, More

March 7th, 2025 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

A flurry of two-way signings occurred prior to Tuesday’s deadline and many of those players who received two-way contracts in the week leading up to March 4 agreed to two-year deals.

Hoops Rumors has confirmed that Patrick Baldwin and Seth Lundy of the Clippers, Pete Nance and Jamaree Bouyea of the Bucks, Lester Quinones of the Pelicans, David Roddy of the Rockets, Miles Norris of the Celtics, and Jared Rhoden of the Raptors all signed two-year, two-way contracts.

As our tracker shows, that means that 25 of the 90 players signed to two-way contracts have deals that will carry over to the 2025/26 league year. It’s common for many of the players on two-year, two-way pacts to be waived during the offseason if teams decide there’s an undrafted rookie or Summer League standout they’d rather add, but those two-year terms give clubs the option of retaining their two-way players for another year.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts around the league:

The Jazz used $634,437 of their room exception to sign guard Jaden Springer, who got a three-year contract that includes a non-guaranteed salary for 2025/26 and a team option for ’26/27. Springer will receive a $400K partial guarantee on next season’s salary if he remains under contract through July 25. That partial guarantee will increase to $600K if he makes the opening night roster in the fall.
Teams that used a portion of their mid-level exceptions to promote two-way players to multiyear standard deals include the Wizards with Justin Champagnie ($1,800,000), the Clippers with Jordan Miller ($1,005,000), and the Rockets with Jeenathan Williams ($515,881). All three players got four-year contracts that don’t include guaranteed money beyond this season, though Miller’s deal includes some trigger dates — he’ll get a partial guarantee of $350K for 2025/26 if he’s still under contract beyond July 15 and half of his $2,191,897 salary will become guaranteed if he isn’t waived before the start of the ’25/26 regular season.
Pat Spencer of the Warriors, Orlando Robinson of the Raptors, and Ryan Rollins of the Bucks all received straight conversions of their two-way contracts to standard deals, so they’ll each still be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.
Dominick Barlow‘s new two-year contract with the Hawks is a minimum-salary deal that includes a team option for 2025/26.

Raptors Provide Injury Updates On Ingram, Several Others

March 6th, 2025 at 1:30pm CST by Rory Maher

Former All-Star forward Brandon Ingram has yet to make his Raptors debut after being acquired in a trade with New Orleans ahead of last month’s deadline. He has been sidelined since December 7, when he suffered a “significant” left ankle sprain.

While Ingram has been able to increase his on-court activity in recent days, he’s still limited to solo work, with no timeline for his return to games or practices, the team announced today (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). The next update on Ingram, who signed a three-year, $120MM extension with Toronto shortly after the trade, will come in two weeks.

As Lewenberg relays (via Twitter), the Raptors also provided injury updates on several other players on Thursday afternoon. Third-year wing Ochai Agbaji, who sprained his left ankle last week vs. Chicago, is no longer in a walking boot and will ramp up his activity, but he has yet to resume practicing. Agbaji will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.

Rookie big man Jonathan Mogbo sustained a nasal fracture on Tuesday against Orlando and will miss at least one week. The former San Francisco star will wear a mask for the remainder of the 2024/25 season, tweets Lindsay Dunn of CityNews Toronto. As we noted a couple days ago, second-year guard Gradey Dick will be out at least two weeks due to a right knee injury.

On a more positive note, rookie sharpshooter Jamison Battle will be active going forward after missing the past five games with a broken nose. Veteran wing Garrett Temple is also back with the Raptors after being away from the team due to personal reasons.

Raptors Sign Colin Castleton To 10-Day Contract

March 6th, 2025 at 10:12am CST by Luke Adams

March 6: The signing is official, according to the NBA transactions log.

March 5: The Raptors intend to sign center Colin Castleton to a 10-day contract, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Castleton, who went undrafted out of Florida in 2023, spent his rookie year on a two-way contract with the Lakers and was on a two-way deal with the Grizzlies for most of the first half of this season. The 6’10” big man appeared in 26 combined games for the two NBA clubs, compiling 38 points and 21 rebounds in 105 total minutes.

Although Castleton’s playing time at the NBA level has been limited, he has performed well for the Lakers’, Grizzlies’, and Magic’s G League affiliates since going pro.

The 24-year-old, who has been playing for the Osceola Magic since being waived by the Grizzlies in January, has made 26 total G League appearances this season, averaging 17.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 30.2 minutes per game for Osceola and the Memphis Hustle.

Even after promoting center Orlando Robinson to a standard contract on Tuesday, Toronto has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to make room for Castleton. His 10-day contract will pay him $107,027 and will carry an identical cap hit on the Raptors’ books.

The Raptors don’t play again until Friday, so it’s unclear when exactly Castleton will sign his contract. The 10-day deal will run through at least Toronto’s next five games and could cover as many as six if it’s not officially completed until Friday.

Atlantic Notes: Poeltl, Ingram, Brunson, Towns, Robinson, Embiid

March 5th, 2025 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl sees last month’s trade for Brandon Ingram as proof that the organization expects to be competitive next season, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Although Ingram hasn’t played since suffering a sprained ankle November 22 while he was still with New Orleans, he has started working out before games. Even if he has to wait until next season to see Ingram in action, Poeltl is excited about the core group that has been put together.

“(The trade) just kind of followed up on what they’ve been talking about, well, really, for the past year, year and a half, which is like, ‘No, we don’t want to tank and go through the draft.’ They wanted to get back to winning quickly. Obviously,” he said. “Yes, you got to try and build up a new team. You got to build on some young guys, and you got to go through some more difficult times, but they’ve always communicated that they want to be aggressive, making moves like that. And so, yeah, I think it’s really good, and it’s good for us as a team.”

The Raptors are also being careful with Poeltl, who is operating under a minutes restriction due to a hip injury he suffered last month and frequently doesn’t play beyond the third quarter. He would prefer to be challenging for a playoff spot, but he understands why the team has dedicated the final few weeks of the season to developing its young talent.

“Obviously, you want to win games, like there’s no way around it,” he said. “I want to win games now, and sometimes it’s frustrating to lose games when you’re in that learning process. But I think, like you said, I’m one of those guys. I can see the big picture. I can understand the process, and bought into it, so I know what to expect, and then I’m OK with that.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks saw Tuesday’s game slip away when Golden State started double-teaming Jalen Brunson in the fourth quarter and taking the ball out of his hands, observes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. That strategy led to five straight empty possessions, which allowed the Warriors to pull away. Brunson called it “something we can learn from,” but the Knicks still haven’t shown their offense can be effective without Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed the game due to personal reasons. Towns is expected back on Thursday when New York starts a five-game West Coast swing, sources tell Bondy (Twitter link).
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is only averaging 13.7 minutes in three games since returning from ankle surgery, but his playing time is expected to increase on the road trip, Bondy adds. Bondy also questions coach Tom Thibodeau’s decision to remove Precious Achiuwa from the rotation now that Robinson is playing again.
Keith Smith of Spotrac examines the Sixers‘ options with Joel Embiid, concluding that there’s no easy way to cut ties with the injured center if he’s unable to regain his All-NBA form. Embiid has four years and a projected $248MM left on his contract after this season, leading to him, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey taking up nearly the team’s entire salary cap over the next three years. Unless Philadelphia can find someone willing to trade for Embiid’s hefty contract, the only options are a waive-and-stretch procedure, which wouldn’t be possible until after the 2026/27 season, or a medical retirement, which would have to be approved by the Fitness to Play panel or by a doctor jointly selected by the NBA and the players union.

Atlantic Notes: Towns, Drummond, Raptors, Norris

March 4th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Karl-Anthony Towns missed the Knicks’ loss to Golden State on Tuesday due to personal reasons, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. It’s uncertain whether Towns will join the team in Los Angeles when the Knicks face the Lakers on Thursday and Clippers on Friday.

“When he’s ready to come back, obviously we want him back,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But he needs some time right now.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Andre Drummond posted big numbers in the Sixers’ loss to Portland on Monday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. The veteran center finished with season highs of 25 points and 18 rebounds. Philadelphia will continue to rely on Drummond with Joel Embiid out for the season. “I mean, that’s what I set out to do on a nightly basis — [show] that I still am effective,” he said. “Regardless of whatever minutes you give me and whatever chance that I get, I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do.” Drummond holds a $5MM player option on his contract for next season.
With the Raptors pointing toward the offseason, Eric Koreen of The Athletic suggests ways they can subtly tank the remainder of the way. That includes limiting the minutes of their top players, going with younger players off the bench and not signing another center.
Miles Norris‘ two-way contract with the Celtics is a two-year deal, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. The forward, who had been playing for the Memphis Hustle in the NBA G League, signed his contract on Tuesday.

Raptors’ Gradey Dick To Miss At Least Two Weeks With Knee Injury

March 4th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors guard Gradey Dick has been diagnosed with a hyperextended right knee and bone bruises and will be out for at least the next two weeks, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Raptors, Dick – who was injured during the second quarter of Sunday’s win in Orlando – will begin rehabilitating his knee injury upon returning to Toronto and will be reevaluated at the two-week mark.

The injury occurred as RJ Barrett drove into the lane while being defended by Magic guard Cole Anthony. Dick was cutting toward the basket from the corner and when Barrett and Anthony got tangled up near the rim, they fell into Dick — he collided with Anthony, then took a hard fall to the floor as Barrett landed on his leg (video link).

The 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Dick is considered a key part of the rebuild in Toronto. In 54 games (all starts) this season, the 21-year-old has averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 29.4 minutes per game, with a .410/.350/.858 shooting line.

Dick is one of a handful of Raptors wings currently on the injured list, along with Ochai Agbaji (left ankle sprain) and Jamison Battle (nasal fracture). Those ailments could open the door for rookies Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead to play increased roles.

Raptors Sign Rhoden To Two-Way Deal, Promote Robinson

March 4th, 2025 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

12:19 pm: Both roster moves are now official, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.

10:54 am: The Raptors have agreed to a two-way contract with guard Jared Rhoden, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Rhoden, 25, was in camp with Toronto back in the fall. When the Raptors waived him at the end of the preseason, he was claimed by the Hornets, who converted him to a two-way deal and kept him him on their roster for about six weeks before cutting him in early December.

After appearing in four games for the Hornets and two for their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, Rhoden has been suiting up for the Raptors 905 for most of the NBAGL season. The former Seton Hall standout has averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals in 30.3 minutes per game across 22 appearances for Toronto’s G League affiliate. He has knocked down down 49.5% of his shots from the floor, including 38.0% of his three-pointers.

Rhoden was briefly under contract with the Raptors last month after signing a 10-day deal with the team on February 19. He appeared in just one NBA game for Toronto during those 10 days, seeing 78 seconds of garbage-time action in a blowout win over Phoenix.

The Raptors will have to open up a two-way slot in order to sign Rhoden and the expectation is that they’ll do so by promoting center Orlando Robinson to their standard roster, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). It’s expected to be a straight conversion for Robinson, which means he’ll just be signed for the rest of the season, according to Murphy.

Robinson, who opened the season on a non-guaranteed contract in Sacramento, barely played for the Kings, but has been part of the Raptors’ regular rotation in recent weeks, first on a pair of 10-day contracts, then on a two-way deal. He has posted 5.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 17 games (15.7 MPG) for Toronto.

The Raptors currently have two openings on their 15-man roster, so they’ll still have room for another player after promoting Robinson.