{"id":127310,"date":"2025-03-07T10:13:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=127310"},"modified":"2025-03-07T10:13:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:13:46","slug":"raptors-rookies-masked-injury-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/07\/raptors-rookies-masked-injury-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors Rookies Receive Masked Injury Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With about a month remaining in the regular season, the Toronto Raptors are still unsure about whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a> will suit up for them in 2024-25. In their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/06\/toronto-raptors-star-brandon-ingram-discouraging-injury-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">latest injury report<\/a>, the star forward was said to be ramping up his basketball-related activities, and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Based on that timeline, the earliest that Ingram could return is on March 20, when the Raptors face the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n<h2>Raptors Rookies Receive Masked Injury Updates<\/h2>\n<p>Sophomore wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dickgr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gradey Dick<\/a> will also be <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JLew1050\/status\/1897708103476379933\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">out for at least two more weeks<\/a> due to a hyperextended knee and bone contusion (h\/t TSN&#8217;s Josh Lewenberg). Furthermore, third-year wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/agbajoc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ochai Agbaji<\/a> has only recently gotten out of his walking boot after spraining his ankle on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, rookie forward-center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chomcul01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ulrich Chomche<\/a> will miss the remainder of the season <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/24\/should-raptors-injury-shift-draft-direction\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">with a partially torn MCL<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ochai Agbaji got hurt on this possession.<\/p>\n<p>Ochai and Jamal Shead are the only 2 Toronto Raptors to miss the fewest games, per Matty D.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully nothing serious. \ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bvDzOg720v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bvDzOg720v<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OmerOsman200\/status\/1895646395581022232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Then there are rookies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mogbojo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Mogbo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/battlja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamison Battle<\/a>, who will both be returning from their nasal fractures soon. Where Mogbo will be out for another week, Battle is preparing to suit up against the Utah Jazz on Friday. However, Mogbo will wear a mask for the remainder of the season (h\/t CityNews Toronto&#8217;s Lindsay Dunn). Battle is wearing a mask as well, though it&#8217;s not clear whether he&#8217;ll continue to throughout the season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jonathan Mogbo suffered a nasal fracture and will be wearing a mask for the rest of the season per Raptors PR<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LindsayDunnTV\/status\/1897706829297094980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In any case, wearing a mask is relatively commonplace for players who sustain facial injuries. Nevertheless, it can be a hindrance, either because it&#8217;s uncomfortable or alters their depth perception. With that in mind, Battle may be more affected by his new accessory than Mogbo will be. A 3-point specialist, 75.5 percent of his shot attempts have come from beyond the arc. Of those 3-point attempts, the 23-year-old has converted 42.3 percent.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Castleton and a masked Jamison Battle getting shots up <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0FRdacov1b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/0FRdacov1b<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7ZYUFsRZIs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7ZYUFsRZIs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Coty Wiles (@CotyWilesSports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CotyWilesSports\/status\/1897792857601458218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Notably, Agbaji is the Raptors&#8217; only other wing that&#8217;s an above-average 3-point threat, shooting 39.9 percent in 2024-25. Well, without counting Ingram, who&#8217;s a career 36.3 percent 3-point shooter. Thus, a seemingly innocuous mask could have a legitimate impact on their offense&#8217;s efficiency.<\/p>\n<h3>Eyes On The Prize<\/h3>\n<p>As Toronto appears to be focused on the 2025 NBA Draft, a potential handicap may not bother them too much.<\/p>\n<p>Per Tankathon, they&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tankathon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">projected to have<\/a> the fifth overall pick. They also have a 10.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. That being said, the Raptors would be hard-pressed to finish the season below the franchises who currently have a worse win-loss record. However, they&#8217;re in a great position to land a star-caliber NBA prospect this summer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Mike Watters-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With about a month remaining in the regular season, the Toronto Raptors are still unsure about whether Brandon Ingram will suit up for them in 2024-25. In their latest injury report, the star forward was said to be ramping up his basketball-related activities, and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Based on that timeline, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":127396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1608,62,556,3],"tags":[308,4831,49793,49467,98,4745,4485,49282],"class_list":["post-127310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-gradey-dick","tag-jamison-battle","tag-jonathan-mogbo","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-injuries","tag-ochai-agbaji","tag-ulrich-chomche"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127310"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127398,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127310\/revisions\/127398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}