Just over a week after Scottie Barnes had to be helped off the court against the New York Knicks, he has already been upgraded to questionable for Toronto’s Dec. 19 contest against the Brooklyn Nets. He could be seen saying “I can’t feel my foot,” immediately after the injury, and he was in a walking boot the day after that. But Barnes heals quickly, apparently, and both he and the Raptors are lucky to have avoided either serious injury or a long-term absence. It could have been a meaningful loss.
Unfortunately, the Raptors were unable to avoid getting good news without also balancing it with the bad. Jakob Poeltl is ruled out against the Nets with what’s being called a groin strain. He is day-to-day.
It seems like the Raptors are starting to round into health heading into the new year. But Barnes and Poeltl both seem to be day-to-day, Quickley is improving even if he hasn’t yet returned to contact in practice, and Bruce Brown is (still) in return-to-play conditioning. It’s possible that within a few weeks, the Raptors could have every player available. Of course, we’ve said that several times before already this season. So who knows.
Without Barnes, the Raptors have turned much more to Jonathan Mogbo for minutes, and despite being incredibly promising on defence, he doesn’t take on much opportunity on offence. RJ Barrett has picked up much of the initiating slack, and touches and shots have funneled down to Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter as well.
Of course, without Poeltl and his enormous screens, the Raptors have been able to open up much less space for off-ball movers like Dick and Walter. Barrett’s picks seems less impactful. Missing the pair of Barnes and Poeltl both means that younger players will carry more opportunity and that they will be less equipped for success. That’s life when some of your best players are on the bench. For now, fingers crossed, the absences should be brief.
The post Reports: Barnes upgraded to questionable, Poeltl out against Brooklyn first appeared on Raptors Republic.
