Raptors' VanVleet, Flynn placed in health and safety protocols

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Raptors guards Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn placed in NBA health and safety protocols

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 12/21/21

There are two more Toronto Raptors going into the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

That’s five Raptors in protocols, including Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent, and Dalano Banton. https://t.co/XhzPWEpcwB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 21, 2021

TSN Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg tweeted Tuesday morning that the team elected not to have a practice, with the players instead going in for individual workouts. According to Lewenberg, Toronto is tentatively planning to fly to Chicago Tuesday afternoon ahead of their scheduled game against the Chicago Bulls at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

The Raptors have 6 guards on their roster - 4 of them are in the COVID protocols (VanVleet, Trent, Banton, Flynn), 1 is hurt (Johnson) and 1 is in Slovenia.

Assuming it's not postponed (and it absolutely should be), tomorrow's game vs Chicago will be... interesting?
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 21, 2021

To assist with their current lack of backcourt depth, Toronto is planning to sign point guard Tremont Waters to a 10-day hardship contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. A 2019 second-round pick by the Boston Celtics, Waters has averaged 3.8 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes per game across 37 contests in his NBA career.

The Raptors are currently tied with the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings at 14-15.

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