Raptors lose Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa to COVID protocol

Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors have a full-on COVID-19 outbreak on their hands. After Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton entered the league’s health and safety protocols on Saturday, the Raptors would embark upon a brutal three-day stretch in which over half of their roster would be declared inactive.

On Monday, Gary Trent Jr. was placed in the protocol, which deprived Toronto of their top perimeter weapon in addition to their best low-post player in Siakam. Early Tuesday morning, Fred VanVleet and Malachi Flynn also entered the protocol, which served as the latest punch in the gut for fans.

The Raptors still had two of their best frontcourt players thanks to a rookie sensation in Barnes and a promising young big in Precious Achiuwa. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic decided to once again smack the Raptors in the face by depriving fans of those two players.

Barnes and Achiuwa became the sixth and seventh Raptors to enter the league’s health and safety protocols, per Adrian Wojnarowski. The Raptors are now down four of their starters in addition to both of their backup point guards and their top reserve big man. This is…less than ideal.

Toronto Raptors studs Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa are out.

Wojnarowski is reporting that Toronto’s Wednesday night game against the Chicago Bulls is still on. Though DeMar DeRozan returned to action, the Bulls are still missing some of their key players. The Raptors have OG Anunoby active, but he is the only regular starter expected to play.

The Raptors have already made four replacement signings, as they signed a pair of backup point guards in Tremont Waters and Brandon Goodwin. The front office picked up a Canadian sharpshooter in Nik Stauskas and one of Anunoby’s college teammates in former Jazz big Juwan Morgan.

Barnes is averaging 15.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game this year, putting him firmly at the top of the Rookie of the Year race alongside Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley. Achiuwa is putting up averages of 8.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, though he looks better offensively of late.

Like the rest of the positive tests, Barnes and Achiuwa likely won’t be involved in any game action until the end of the calendar year, as that would be the end of the minimum 10-day layoff after entering the protocols. The Raptors went from a potential playoff contender to a squad that might not be able to field an active roster.