Raptors Notes: Poeltl, Shead, Respect, Murray-Boyles
The Raptors are considered one of the contenders that might make a bold move prior to the trade deadline. Head coach Darko Rajakovic has one name atop his wish list but that player is already in the organization, Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets.
“There’s one guy that I really, really like that I would like to join our team. His name is Jakob Poeltl, that guy can definitely help us,” he said.
Toronto’s starting center has been sidelined since Dec. 21 due to a back injury and he remains out indefinitely. Poeltl recently received targeted pain relief treatment, per the team, and went through a non-contact workout on Tuesday, Grange notes.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Jamal Shead‘s omission from the Rising Stars competition is an “egregious snub,” Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He observes that Shead is fourth in minutes and first in net rating for a team that’s 10 games over .500 and third in the Eastern Conference standings. Shead is averaging 7.2 points and 5.6 assists in 22.4 minutes per game. Shead took the news in stride, Lewenberg adds in another tweet. “I think everybody that made it is having really good years and contributing to their teams. So, I’m not really worried about that,” he said.
- The Raptors are gaining respect around the league after going 4-1 on their West Coast trip, including a 103-101 win over the Thunder, The Athletic’s Eric Koreen writes. They’re among the top five in the league in defensive rating despite the absence of Poeltl, their only true rim protector. Koreen suggests they’re resembling the 2021/22 Raptors, a team with modest preseason expectations that finished fifth in the East.
- Collin Murray-Boyles (left thumb contusion) is listed as questionable to play against the Knicks on Wednesday, Omer Osman tweets. The lottery pick, who is averaging 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, has missed Toronto’s last four games.
Atlantic Notes: Shead, Nets Streak, Traore, Shamet
The Raptors‘ Jamal Shead has emerged as one of the top backup point guards in the league and he could be deserving of even more playing time, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. Shead finished with 15 points and a career-best 13 assists in a loss to the Clippers on Friday.
“He’s amazing, he wants everyone to succeed,” fellow guard Gradey Dick said. “And he has our backs. He has my back and I have his. And I feel like when you have a point guard like that, it’s super motivational … and I feel like what people don’t talk about enough is just the selflessness. He wants everyone to win. I had just missed a shot right there and he’s one of the first guys to come up and say, ‘Stay right there. The way they’re playing their defense, you’re going to be open for another one,’ and that was one of the next plays.”
Shead is also a bargain. The club holds a $2,296,271 option on his contract for next season, which will undoubtedly be exercised.
Here’s more on the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets snapped a five-game losing streak on Friday but it didn’t come easy. They blew a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead before a late Michael Porter Jr. basket put away the Bulls. “The lesson is that there’s no safe lead in the NBA. Teams will always punch back,” coach Jordi Fernandez said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “Give them credit. But at the end of the day, responding is important because when things go against you and then the other team takes the lead, it may seem like a big mountain in front of you. And the guys kept composure, scored when we needed to. Mike with a big bucket and then the stop.”
- Fernandez made an interesting personnel decision on Friday, riding Nolan Traore instead of lottery pick Egor Demin at the point during crunch time, Lewis notes. Traore finished with seven assists. “I’m very happy with both. I’m very happy with how they play, how selfless they play, their intentions,” Fernandez said. “That’s how you learn and get better. I know (Demin’s) not happy if I take him out of the game. That’s what I hope. And then from there, I know he can bring that level of physicality to guard, to switch, to guard bigger guys, to get into the paint. And then everything else that his superpowers are shooting the ball and finding the 3-point line. I know that that’s there.”
- Landry Shamet returned from a 25-game absence and scored six points in 16 minutes for the Knicks in their loss to the Warriors on Thursday night. Shamet, who is on a one-year, minimum salary contract, was sidelined with a shoulder injury. “He worked his tail off. Landry, he’s a worker, man,” Knicks coach Mike Brown told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “He was getting after it. It means a lot for him to play. He was in a great rhythm before he (got hurt). He’s been out a while. It’s going to take some time for him to get back. But it’s exciting for him to be back and we’re going to be patient with him while he’s fighting to get back to where he was.”
Atlantic Notes: Brown, Embiid, Lowry, Shead
Jaylen Brown is set to return for the Celtics‘ matchup with the Heat on Thursday after missing Monday’s loss in Indiana due to back spasms, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes (Twitter link). The Celtics have lost two consecutive games after winning nine of their previous 11 contests.
Brown believes that the Celtics have not been getting the whistle they should from the referees, Jay King writes in an article for The Athletic. He was fined $35K earlier in the week for criticizing the officiating after a game against the Spurs, which he expected.
“I think something had to be said,” Brown said. “As a team, we get to the free-throw line the least in the league. So just protecting our guys and myself. I think that we deserve a little bit of more respect.”
King points out that the Celtics are the only team in the league averaging fewer than 20 free throw attempts per game, and that Brown is 15th in attempts, despite driving more than anyone in the league other than Deni Avdija and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who both rank in the top four in free throw attempts.
Brown says he’s studied what referees look for and doesn’t believe that the whistle he and the team receive is consistent with the calls other teams get.
“They just pick and choose who they like to call it on. That’s the part that pisses me off,” Brown said. “It should just be everybody should just get reffed evenly and consistently, but it just seems like there’s an agenda where some guys they choose to call certain fouls for, some guys they don’t. So I don’t know what goes into that decision-making, but it’s kind of clear that certain guys on certain teams, certain markets or certain profiles get preferential treatment versus others when it should just be basketball.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla agreed with his star player’s assessment, though he cautioned against getting too caught up in it.
“We can’t put ourselves in a situation where other people are allowed to control the outcome of the game,” Mazzulla said. “So we have to get better.”
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Joel Embiid is the healthiest he’s been in two years, Tony Jones writes for The Athletic. His body responding the way he wants it to has helped bring him a newfound sense of joy to the Sixers. “I can’t sit here and say that I thought this would happen again. I was skeptical that I would have a chance of being this consistent,” Embiid said. “That’s why I’m kind of emotional about it. I think there were a lot of people that thought this would never be possible again. So, I’m happy that I’m getting the chance to play again and be consistent again. I just want to keep playing, and keep trying to get better every single night.” Embiid isn’t as explosive as he once was, as evidenced by his recording his first dunk of the season in a recent win over the Knicks, but he has been able to play with fluidity and intention, Jones writes. “What we love is that he looks happy,” said teammate Tyrese Maxey. “We want him to be happy, more than anything. And he looks healthy. I think the thing that I’m most proud of is that he’s staying on top of his treatment. He’s staying on top of getting ice and seeing the training staff. Just seeing him healthy, that is the stuff that really matters.”
- Kyle Lowry got to experience a special moment at the end of the Sixers‘ win against the Raptors on Monday, writes Ian Harrison of The Associated Press. With just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the road crowd chanting his name, Lowry was inserted into the game and was greeted with an enthusiastic standing ovation. The game marked what could be the point guard’s last appearance in Toronto, six-and-a-half years after he helped bring the city its lone NBA championship. “I got an opportunity to experience probably one of the greatest basketball moments of my personal career,” Lowry said after the game. Coach Nick Nurse heard the crowd chanting, “We want Lowry,” and gave them what they wanted. “I thought they didn’t think I was really going to do it, but I was planning on it there and got a good moment to do it,” Nurse said. “It was nice to be able to kind of bring him in on his own there.” Lowry emphasized after the game that his retirement plan still involves signing a one-day contract with the Raptors to retire with the team he spent nine seasons playing for.
- Jamal Shead has been one of the standout performers for the Raptors this season, Eric Koreen writes in his midseason report card for The Athletic (subscriber link). Shead is one of two players, along with Scottie Barnes, whom Koreen awards an A grade, writing that the guard’s defense and ability to get downhill have earned him coach Darko Rajakovic‘s trust late in games. Koreen also notes that in Shead’s clutch-time minutes, the Raptors outscore their opponents by 26.2 points per 100 possessions.
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Reserves, Bamba, Barrett
On the heels of one of their most disappointing losses of the season on Friday in Washington, the Raptors bounced back in impressive fashion, beating Golden State and Orlando in back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday.
In the victory over the Warriors, forward Scottie Barnes led the way by posting the first 20-20 triple-double in franchise history (23 points, 25 rebounds, and 10 assists). In the process, Barnes showed why he remains a centerpiece of the Raptors’ future despite his limitations as a scorer, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic.
On Monday, with Barnes not at his best (13 points, 5-of-12 shooting), Toronto found another way to win against the Magic, leaning on reserves like Jamal Shead (19 points, five assists), Gradey Dick (15 points), and Collin Murray-Boyles (12 rebounds, two blocks) to help propel them to a victory.
“Those guys, they’re built of special cloth,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said of his youngsters after the win, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “They’re built of resiliency. They’re really putting in a lot of work. It doesn’t matter if we win, we lose. It doesn’t matter if we’re up, we’re down. It does not really matter what kind of mood we’re in. They’re extremely professional. They’re doing a good job of preparing for each game. They keep going forward.
“I love how fearless they are. I love how together they play. That’s something very important for young guys to learn early in their careers: You’ve got to bring energy every night. It’s very important.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Rajakovic was “very disappointed” that Barnes wasn’t among the top 20 Eastern Conference vote-getters in the first returns of the fan vote for the 2026 All-Star Game, as Grange relays. “We need to get this right. Canada needs to get this right,” the Raptors’ coach said. “… Only two players in the NBA this season have 500 points-plus, 250 assists-plus, 25 blocks-plus and 250 rebounds-plus, and that’s Nikola Jokic and Scottie Barnes. I have no doubt that Scottie Barnes is an All-Star. I have no doubt that he needs to be toward the top of that list of players in the East. Canada, we need to get that fixed right now.”
- Newly signed to a non-guaranteed contract, Mo Bamba didn’t make much of an impact in his Raptors debut on Monday — he blocked a shot but committed two fouls, and the team was outscored by nine points during his four minutes on the court. Still, with Jakob Poeltl out due to a back issue, Bamba should get more chances to show he deserves to stick with the team a little longer, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “I think this is a good opportunity for him to prove to everybody that he belongs in this league,” Rajakovic said. “We’re going to have a very clear plan for him. We’re going to give him an opportunity to show what he can do and hopefully it works for both sides.”
- Bamba said on Monday that he and the Raptors had been in contact since the G League Showcase earlier this month before reaching a contract agreement over the weekend. The former lottery pick added that he has known a few of his new teammates – including Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Barnes – for several years (Twitter links via Lewenberg).
- Barrett had just 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting in his return from a sprained knee on Sunday, then sat out on Monday in the second end of a back-to-back. However, his teammates were very happy to have him back — Toronto’s 116.6 offensive rating during Barrett’s minutes this season is the highest mark of among Raptors players. “He creates so much pressure on the rim,” Barnes said on Sunday, per Grange. “Catch and shoot is amazing. Transition, we know we miss him a lot, those fast breaks … he gets out and runs a lot. He leads our fast breaks. He’s big for us. With play-making, you saw when I screened for him, being able to get that roll, going downhill (and getting) easy dunks. He does a lot for this team that it’s hard to try to take over in that sense.”
And-Ones: Undervalued Players, Calf Strains, Beverley, Morris
John Hollinger of The Athletic lists seven “undervalued” players from around the NBA who are making an outsized impact relative to their contracts. The seven players are specifically “hard-playing, unheralded guys with a little bit of extra edge to them,” as Hollinger puts it.
Raptors backup point guard Jamal Shead is the first player listed, which isn’t surprising. As Hollinger writes, Shead made an immediate impact as a rookie due to his strong defense, but his offensive improvements in year two have made him a key part of Toronto’s rotation.
While the 23-year-old’s shooting is still a “work in progress,” he is processing the game at a higher level in 2025/26.
“Just going left and making reads,” Shead said of his offseason improvement. “It’s not always about scoring, it’s about if they’re trying to push me left or right in the ball screen, can I still make the read out of that? I’m understanding the pace of the game and how to really create for my teammates. … Impacting defense is what I’m going to do regardless, but I’m impacting offense this year a lot more too.”
Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, and Hornets center Moussa Diabate are among the other players highlighted by Hollinger.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In an interesting and in-depth story for Yahoo Sports, Tom Haberstroh takes a look at the increase in players missing time with calf strains this season. While there are two very famous examples (Kevin Durant and Tyrese Haliburton) of players with calf injuries later tearing their Achilles tendon, those cases have been the exception and not the rule. “The interesting thing is, historically, a calf strain is thought of as this completely separate injury from an Achilles tear,” said Dr. Scott Ellis of the Hospital of Special Surgery (HSS) in New York. “When you have somebody with an Achilles rupture, nine times out of 10 — actually, even more, 99% of the time — they don’t have anything that you could pick up structurally in an imaging exam on their Achilles.”
- Longtime NBA guard Patrick Beverley, who spent last season in Israel, has reached a contract agreement with the Greek club PAOK, reports Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops.net. According to Miloradovic, Beverley is expected to arrive in Thessaloniki — where the team is based — on Saturday evening to finalize the deal, which is pending a physical. Beverley, whose last NBA stint was with Milwaukee in 2023/24, was arrested last month in Texas and charged with assault of a family/household member. TMZ reported that Beverley was accused of punching his sister in the eye and choking her for between 20 and 30 seconds.
- Veteran NBA guard Monte Morris, who spent time with the Pacers earlier this season, officially signed with the Greek EuroLeague team Olympiacos last week. Eurohoops.net passes along some highlights from Morris’ introductory press conference.
Raptors’ Quickley To Miss NBA Cup Game With Illness
Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley will miss his team’s NBA Cup quarterfinal game against the Knicks on Tuesday due to an illness, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.
It’s a big blow to Toronto’s chances of advancing. The Raptors are already without RJ Barrett, who is sidelined by a right knee sprain. The good news is that reserve point guard Jamal Shead, who was listed as questionable with a right quad contusion, will play tonight.
Quickley has started all 25 games for Toronto, averaging 16.5 points, 6.2 assists, 4.2 assists and 1.2 assists in 32.2 minutes per game. Shead figures to receive the bulk of his minutes with Ja’Kobe Walter also seeing plenty of action.
RJ Barrett Receives PRP Injection, Out At Least One More Week
Raptors wing RJ Barrett recently received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in his sprained right knee, and while he’s making progress in his recovery, he will be out at least one more week, the team announced on Monday (Twitter link via Marc J. Spears of Andscape).
As Spears notes, Toronto hosts New York in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Tuesday, and the Raptors will be without Barrett, their third-leading scorer. Jamison Battle (left ankle sprain) is doubtful for Tuesday’s matchup, while key reserve Jamal Shead is questionable because of a right quad contusion.
The No. 3 overall pick of the 2019 draft, Barrett was off to a solid start to 2025/26 prior to sustaining the injury on November 23 vs. Brooklyn. Through 17 games, the 25-year-old guard/forward averaged 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 30.9 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .506/.356/.725.
It’s been an unusual season for Toronto, which won its first game, lost four in a row, won four straight, lost another, reeled off nine consecutive victories, and has now dropped five of its past six games. Despite the recent downturn, the Raptors are still 15-10, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, though only one game separates them from the No. 9 spot.
Barrett has missed the past eight games due to the knee sprain. The Raptors have gone 3-5 so far without the Toronto native available.
Second-year guard Ja’Kobe Walter has started each of the past five games for Toronto with Barrett sidelined, but has struggled mightily in the past two, going 0-for-9 from the floor in 37 combined minutes. The Raptors were minus-40 when the 21-year-old was on the court over that two-game span.
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Shead, Ingram, Record, Schedule
After a disappointing 1-4 start, the Raptors have been on a tear ever since, winning seven of their past eight games to improve to 8-5. Thursday’s win in Cleveland was the team’s most impressive victory of the season, and Scottie Barnes was the best player on the court, recording 28 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks in 35 minutes.
“I know what I’m capable of, so just gotta bring that every single night,” Barnes said, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. “Be aggressive, attacking downhill, being aggressive on both ends, and I was just helping my teammates a lot. If someone gets beat just trying to be help for them. So just doing those things on both ends. Once I’m aggressive, then I’m attacking downhill and just drawing the defense on me and being able to kick out. You know, just opens up a lot for our team.”
If Barnes continues to play at the level he has lately, the Raptors will be a dangerous team in a seemingly wide-open Eastern Conference, says Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Koreen writes, Barnes may have been miscast in the past as a No. 1 offensive option, but the acquisition of Brandon Ingram has allowed Barnes to showcase his all-around skills and push the ball hard in transition.
“When you look at 28 points, eight assists and the offensive stuff, it’s easy to identify he had a good game,” head coach Darko Rajaković said. “He does so much more for us — defensively with five blocked shots, (the) deflections that he’s creating, rotations, how he’s covering for us defensively. He’s doing an outstanding job for us.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Barnes was effusive in his praise of 2024 second-round pick Jamal Shead after Thursday’s game, Grange adds. “When he steps on the floor for us, he’s a game changer,” Barnes said of the second-year guard. “We had a lot of games this year where offense looks slow, comes in the game defensively, offensively, changes that entire game. It’s like a little boost, like a little sense of like ‘we’re ready to go’ when he steps on the floor. He changes the game with his offense, defense, be able to get downhill, make those extra reads … he’s super important for our team. He’s been a leader every single day. It’s his, what, second year in the league? And I feel like he’s one of our main leaders.”
- While the starters are still getting used to playing with each other and the defense remains an issue, the offensive attention Ingram draws due to his half-court shot-making has created scoring opportunities for his teammates, Koreen writes for The Athletic. “The reality of it is we haven’t really had a player like him with his play style in the past couple years,” center Jakob Poeltl said after Tuesday’s win at Brooklyn. “(There are) a lot of new situations for us that everyone is trying to get used to. Considering where we are in the season … I think we’re doing a good job.”
- The last time Toronto was three games above .500 was February 2022, when Barnes was a rookie, notes Grange of Sportsnet. It’s been a while since the Raptors were a solid team, but Barnes is optimistic about the future. “It’s been a long time, man,” he told Grange. “I know we’ve probably been struggling here in Toronto, but I’m happy and we’re super blessed to be in this position. But we can’t take nothing for granted. It’s still a grind; we got to still stay hungry. Just because we’re over .500, that don’t mean nothing.”
- As Grange observes in another story, the Raptors have a favorable schedule over their next four games, with upcoming matchups against the Hornets (4-9), Sixers (7-5), Wizards (1-11) and Nets (1-11), giving the team an opportunity to move further up the standings.
Eastern Notes: Ware, Cavs Injuries, Shead, White
Heat second-year big man Kel’el Ware had 14 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in 34 minutes while making his third straight start in place of the injured Bam Adebayo on Monday. Miami pulled out an overtime win over Cleveland and coach Erik Spoelsta heaped praise on Ware.
“That’s the best game he’s played in a Miami Heat uniform,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I don’t care what the stats are. I know he had 20 rebounds. But those efforts on the glass were incredible. And he was reliable defensively. He was with it. He was in the right spots. (Evan) Mobley made a couple great shots, but Kel’el was there. He was there, doing the right thing.”
The Heat have won all three games Ware has filled in for Adebayo.
“I feel like that’s something they always wanted to see,” Ware said. “They’ve been wanting to see it from me. It feels [good] to see them encouraging me on that end and proud of me for bringing that out.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Cavaliers will be missing three starters in their rematch against Miami on Wednesday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com tweets. Darius Garland (injury management — left big toe), Donovan Mitchell (rest) and Evan Mobley (rest) are listed as out, while Larry Nance Jr. (knee contusion) is considered questionable.
- Jamal Shead has continued to give the Raptors a reliable play-maker off the bench in his second season, Michael Grange of Sportnet writes. “He’s able to do a lot of things,” forward Brandon Ingram said. “We know what he can do on the defensive end, but he’s able to attack the paint, he’s always searching for guys. He knows he’s playing with scorers, so when he gets the ball, he’s trying to attack, and he always knows where guys are.” In 10 games, Shead is averaging 6.4 points and 5.0 assists, compared to 1.1 turnovers, in 17.4 minutes per game. He’s making just $1.96MM this season and Toronto holds a club option on his contract for next season.
- Coby White (strained right calf) made it through a practice on Monday with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate. White, who has yet to make his season debut, could return at some point during the team’s upcoming road trip, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports, though he won’t play on Wednesday when they visit Detroit. ‘‘Everything that I heard was that it went well,’’ head coach Billy Donovan said. ‘‘I think the biggest thing is always trying to find out the next day how it went. The plan right now . . . would be to get back into practice with us when we get back from Detroit. We’ll have three days. One of those days, we’ll certainly have contact. The plan is to get him into that practice pretty extensively.’’
Raptors Notes: Brown, Ingram, Dick, Walter, Shead
A number of fans in Toronto took exception to comments Bruce Brown made about his time with the Raptors ahead of training camp last week. The veteran guard, who is back with the Nuggets after spending the past two seasons with the Pacers, Raptors, and Pelicans, spoke at media day about being part of “a lot of losing basketball” since leaving the Nuggets as a free agent in 2023 and told Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he had thought about coming back to Denver “as soon as I got to Toronto.”
Ahead of the Nuggets’ game against the Raptors on Monday, Brown spoke to Kayla Grey of TSN (Twitter link) about those remarks, explaining that they weren’t intended as a shot at Toronto or the Raptors.
“Media day, they asked me, ‘When did you think about getting to Denver’ And I said when I got to Toronto. That wasn’t like I didn’t want to go Toronto,” Brown said. “I went to Indy. I finally chose where I could go, and three months in, they trade me, and I’m like, ‘Why the f–k did I go? I could have stayed in Denver and been happy.’
“I think Toronto’s one of the best cities in the NBA, easily. Like, I loved my time in Toronto. It’s insane. So don’t let people on social media twist my words, because I loved my time in Toronto. But it’s just the beast of it.”
Here are a few more notes on the Raptors:
- Scottie Barnes failed to make a field goal and all five Raptors starters had negative net ratings in the team’s preseason opener against Denver on Monday. Still, while the game showed that there’s plenty of room for improvement, Brandon Ingram‘s Raptors debut was an encouraging one, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, who notes that the veteran forward looked “perfectly comfortable” generating half-court offense, which is why the team traded for him last season. Ingram had a team-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
- Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter were the Raptors’ first-round picks in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but their roles for the 2025/26 season aren’t guaranteed. According to Grange, both players are embracing the challenge of having to fight for minutes in Toronto’s rotation. “This is the first time in my life, no doubt, that I’ve had to (battle for minutes),” Walter said on Sunday. “It’s definitely the first time, I’d say, where I haven’t been like the main guy on the team, but you know, I love it. I like the competitiveness. I like the drive I have to have every day.”
- Second-year Raptors point guard Jamal Shead has emerged as the leader among the club’s younger players, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic. While Koreen likens Shead’s role to the one Fred VanVleet played on a young second unit during his early years in Toronto, the 23-year-old downplayed his impact. “Honestly, it’s just information. I’m a point guard. I give out information. They take it, they receive it, and then we move on from there,” Shead said. “I don’t think it’s more of them just following me (because) I’m the best leader ever. I think it’s just more of a respect thing.”