Raptors swingman Norman Powell left Monday night’s win over Utah with a left shoulder injury, and the initial diagnosis from the team is a subluxation of that shoulder, as Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun tweets. Powell will undergo further evaluations to determine the severity of the injury, but Wolstat notes that a subluxation translates to a partial dislocation, which doesn’t sound like great news.
If Powell is forced to miss some time, the Raptors have the depth to handle his absence. Second-stringers like C.J. Miles and Delon Wright could see a little more action with Powell out, while Lorenzo Brown and Malachi Richardson would be among the candidates to play a few minutes on nights when Kawhi Leonard sits.
Here’s more out of Toronto:
- Malachi Richardson was one of eight players who had his 2019/20 rookie scale option turned down last week, leaving him at a crossroads, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. As Murphy observes, Richardson still has a little intrigue as a prospect, but his minor role in Toronto and the possibility of a large tax bill next season led to the team declining that option.
- One person within the Raptors’ organization tells Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer that the expectation for Kawhi Leonard is that he’ll be fully healthy sometime around the All-Star break. The jammed foot currently sidelining Leonard isn’t considered a major issue, but even before suffering that injury, the former Finals MVP was only playing one game during back-to-back sets. Uggetti’s source seems to be suggesting that could change later in the season, if necessary.
- On Monday, we relayed a few details on how the Raptors hope to sell Leonard on sticking in Toronto beyond this season, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com.
Fully healthy by All Star, is Claw’s leg still bothering him, or is that when they take the restrictions off completely?
My guess is the latter, but the wording in the story was a little ambiguous.