As is customary before every NBA season, there are players who are bound to unfortunately fall short of making the final roster. As I mentioned yesterday, the Raptors organization announced they waived five players ahead of next week's season opener, and included in that list of cuts were two surprising names: AJ Lawson and Ulrich Chomche.
According to Raptors insider Michael Grange, Lawson could continue with his franchise career as part of the Raptors 905 if Toronto can sort out his rights and sign him to fill their open two-way spot. That spot is now vacant after they released Chomche, who was Toronto's 57th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft (via Memphis). I touched on this a bit in yesterday’s piece, but I think the news about Chomche surprised many in Raptors Nation. Even though the Cameroonian youngster is very much raw and could be considered "two years away from being two years away," there was definitely excitement about his potential as a long-term developmental project.
Following this surprising news, there was definitely a sense of curiosity and intrigue on Raptors social media to learn more and gain clarity about why Chomche was let go. If you've been following the Raptors' preseason, you might have noticed that Chomche has not played at all for the team. He has been sidelined with an undisclosed condition, and the team has not provided any updates. Sportsnet's Blake Murphy offered some additional insight into the Chomche situation with a post on X:
Raptors forced to cut another young center due to unfortunate circumstances
Chomche has been referred to the league’s fitness to play panel, per sources.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) October 17, 2025
No specifics at this point but similar, process wise, to Koloko the other year. https://t.co/ngExueAMWY
Based on the Murphy report and additional insight from Michael Grange, it’s clear that whatever Chomche is currently dealing with is serious enough to have him referred to the NBA’s fitness to play panel for further evaluation. If you're not familiar with the league's fitness to play panel, Grange's piece explained it perfectly: "According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the fitness to play panel is used to determine “whether players with potentially life-threatening injuries, illnesses, or other medical conditions (or any of the foregoing that have the potential to result in paralysis or other permanent spinal injury) are medically able and medically fit to practise and play basketball in the NBA.”
Which brings me to the aformentioned 'curse' I mentioned in the title. Many Raptors fans and commentators noticed how this Chomche situation appears eerily similar to what Toronto went through with Christian Koloko not too long ago. Koloko was the 33rd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and like Chomche, showed flashes of potential. However, he was sidelined for an extended period due to a blood clot issue. Eventually, Toronto decided to waive Koloko after he was repeatedly not cleared to play and in order to to complete the Pascal Siakam trade.
In the aftermath, Koloko was referred to the league's fitness to play panel for further examination. Thankfully, he eventually received clearance from the NBA and was picked up by the Lakers on a two-way contract, where he remains today. And here we are, nearly two years later, and the Raptors have once again faced a similar issue with one of their young centers — being forced to give up on him quite early due to circumstances beyond their control. For now, the hope is that Chomche can recover from this setback and eventually make his way back to an NBA or G League court someday.