In a shocking move to make the Pascal Siakam trade official, the Raptors announced that they waived their 2022 second-pick Christian Koloko.
The Raptors had to create enough roster space for the trade to go through and had to make the tough decision.
It was later revealed that Koloko has a blood clot issue that is threatening his basketball career, per Shams Charania:
Former Raptors center Christian Koloko has a blood clot issue that is threatening his basketball career, details on @TheRally: pic.twitter.com/ZpNV5FG9uJ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 18, 2024
Per Charania, there is “no shortage of teams” interested in signing Koloko if he is eventually cleared to play.
This is a very sad an unfortunate situation for Koloko. Masai Ujiri spoke about the decision to waive Koloko at his press conference addressing the Siakam trade.
Ujiri was visibly sad that he had to make the decision to move on from Koloko and said that the team viewed him as part of their future.
Koloko has been out the entire 2023-24 season and while he was doing more training work as of late he was not cleared to play.
According to Blake Murphy, the Raptors remain high on Koloko as a prospect and there is a possibility he can be signed in the G League for Raptors 905 or re-signed by the Raptors in the ofseason.
Koloko played 58 games with 19 starts for the Raptors as a rookie last season and averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds with a block per game.
The Raptors are already thin with their frontcourt depth following Jakob Poeltl’s injury and the trade of Pascal Siakam. Jontay Porter has filled in nicely as a reliable rotation player for Toronto during this time.
Hopefully, Koloko can fully recover and resume his career as an NBA player.
Next up for Raptors
Toronto will travel to New York to take on the Knicks on Jan. 20. This will mark Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett’s return to New York. Meanwhile, the Raptors will take on O.G. Anunoby for the first time since the trade happened.
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