Toronto Raptors

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic says that a bruised right thigh will keep guard Immanuel Quickley (thigh) out of Friday's matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers after missing Thursday's practice, but he'll travel on Toronto's six-game road trip that starts Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks. With IQ out for at least one game on Friday, look for Gary Trent Jr. and Scottie Barnes to handle the ball more in the first unit. Dennis Schroder and Bruce Brown are candidates to enter the Raptors' starting lineup against the Clippers.

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic called center Jakob Poeltl (ankle) day-to-day after the big man was a partial participant in practice on Wednesday. Poeltl still hasn't been cleared for contact and has to get his conditioning back after missing a few weeks with an ankle sprain. Sidelined for eight straight games with the injury, Poeltl's next chance to return to game action arrives on Friday when the Raptors host the Los Angeles Clippers. Toronto has dropped seven of these past eight contests without the versatile Austrian center. Jontay Porter has operated as the formal starter at the five, with Thaddeus Young and Chris Boucher forming a three-man committee approach in the middle from the bench in Poeltl's stead.

Toronto Raptors guard Bruce Brown (knee) as well as Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis Jr. are all cleared and available to make their team debuts on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls. There was some uncertainty surrounding the game statuses of the Raptors' newcomers following Wednesday's Pascal Siakam trade, especially since Brown was dealing with a knee injury. Though Nwora and Lewis are DNP-CD candidates in their first night north of the border, Brown should occupy a prominent role in Toronto's rotation whether he starts straight from the get-go or not. It still renders Brown a risky DFS play on Thursday, but season-long managers can get him active. The 27-year-old Swiss Army knife is assembling a career year with averages of 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 three-pointers, and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes over 33 starts with the Indiana Pacers this season.

The Toronto Raptors are acquiring guard Bruce Brown (knee) and Jordan Nwora as well as two 2024 first-round picks and a 2026 first-rounder from the Indiana Pacers in a swap for star forward Pascal Siakam. After letting Fred VanVleet walk away this past offseason and shipping out OG Anunoby earlier in January, the Raptors continue to break up their 2018-19 championship core and move toward a transitional phase. A key component of the Denver Nuggets' 2022-23 title push, Brown is enjoying a career season on averages of 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 threes, and 1.1 steals in 29.7 minutes through 33 starts this year after netting a sizable two-year contract with Indiana. The position-less 27-year-old shifts from the NBA's top offense to a more pedestrian one in Toronto, but Brown should get plenty of run as well as some extra usage to compensate for any potential decline in efficiency.

The Toronto Raptors announced on Tuesday that center Jakob Poeltl (ankle) will miss at least two weeks with a sprained left ankle, and he will be re-evaluated from there but is considered out indefinitely. Poeltl battled through the injury in Sunday's win over the Golden State Warriors, but it sounds as if he could be sidelined for greater than two weeks. The 28-year-old Austrian big man is hurting fantasy managers with his 53.2% shooting from the foul line, but he leads the Association's qualifiers in field-goal percentage (68.5%) and is supplying 10.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 26.5 minutes through 36 games in 2023-24. The Raptors are short on depth down low, leaving Pascal Siakam with more minutes in the middle. Chris Boucher should also play a greater role off Toronto's bench, with more usage likely coming for Dennis Schroder and Gary Trent Jr. in small-ball lineups.