Christian Koloko has been out of NBA action for over a year.
The Toronto Raptors drafted Koloko with the No. 33 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and he looked like a big frontcourt piece of Toronto’s future.
But then the 7-foot-1 Cameroonian big man faced a career-threatening blood clot issue that forced him to miss all of last season. In January the Raptors unfortunately had to waive the 24-year-old and he has not played since.
However, all is not lost.
Koloko’s agent Calvin Andrews provided a promising update regarding Koloko’s future, per Sports Illustrated Aaron Rose:
“We had a major breakthrough with his blood clot issue. They found the issue and he had corrective surgery and has been recovering (for) the last 4 months.”
Andrews said that Koloko has been working out at full strength and his team of doctors have cleared him for five-on-five action and full-contract drills, per Rose.
There’s been no official clearance yet on Koloko, but Andrew said several teams have interest in him including the Raptors, per Rose:
“The Raptors have kept very close eyes on his situation. And Koloko would have no problem coming back to the Raptors.”
The Raptors could use some frontcourt depth. The team right now has Jakob Poeltl and Kelly Olynyk on its depth chart. They also have Ulrich Chomche waiting in the wing, but he’s a work in progress at just 18-years-old. The Raptors recently added Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed deal to join them in training camp but he might not make the roster.
Will Koloko return to the Raptors?
The Raptors still have two roster spots open for training camp, including a standard contract after the team bought out Sasha Vezenkov. They also have nearly $11.4 million in cap flexibility for this season, which would still keep them under the luxury tax threshold.
In short, if Koloko is cleared to return to NBA action and the Raptors want him back, they can make it happen.
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