After missing the first 21 games of the season with a back injury, Raptors big man Kelly Olynyk made his season debut in Saturday’s loss to Dallas, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Olynyk explained that his back unexpectedly tightened up after a training camp practice, and it took six weeks for him to recover.
“Playing basketball is what I love to do,” Olynyk said of finally returning to the lineup. “So you know, whenever you get to wake up and play basketball, it’s a great day. Obviously, it took a lot longer than I wanted, probably the team wanted, everybody wanted, but those kind of things happen. You’ve got to take your time. You can’t rush it, but it’s nice to get back out there and get into the flow of things.”
The 33-year-old forward/center had an excellent night, recording 13 points, four rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes without missing a shot (3-of-3 on three-pointers, 4-of-4 on free throws).
Here’s more on the Raptors, mostly from Grange:
Bruce Brown appears to be close behind Olynyk in making his own season debut after undergoing offseason knee surgery, with Grange saying the veteran swingman “should be back any time.” Long viewed as a trade candidate, Brown is on an expiring $23MM contract.
**Immanuel Quickley**‘s return to action does not appear to be imminent, however. According to Grange, there’s still no recovery timeline for the 25-year-old, who sustained a torn ligament in his left elbow on November 10.
As Grange writes, despite losing to Dallas, Toronto had some impressive performances from its young players, with head coach Darko Rajakovic singling out rookie forward Jonathan Mogbo for the “awesome” job he did defending Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. “Jonathan’s super versatile. He can guard one through five,” said Olynk. “ … So that’s really exciting, and he can rebound, he can run, he can put the ball on the floor and handle it a little bit. He made some shots today. As he continues to develop that three-point shot, it’s going to be, obviously, big for him and for us, but he has that athletic ability around the rim. He caught a lob today that looked like he got boosted in the air. It was unbelievable. But you know, his skill set will definitely, I think, complement mine, and mine will complement his. So looking forward to that.” The 31st pick of June’s draft, Mogbo finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 21 minutes.
Third-year guard Jared Rhoden spent training camp with Toronto on an Exhibit 10 contract, but was waived before the season began. Charlotte claimed him off waivers and converted him to a two-way deal, but he was recently cut by the Hornets to make room for Isaiah Wong. According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Rhoden will join Toronto’s G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, which control his returning player rights, but the team will have to release someone to make room for him.