Well, the bad news just got worse.
The Raptors have announced that Immanuel Quickley’s left elbow, which was previously diagnosed as having a sprain, has been confirmed as a partially torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament), per the Raptors. Quickley will be reevaluated in a week, and his status will be updated as appropriate afterwards.
Poking around the internet and there’s a wide array of expected timelines for Quickley’s return to action, but it mostly depends on the grade of the UCL damage. For example, Paul George missed only 5 games with a sprained ligament in his elbow, returned for two games, and then missed 3 months of games due to a torn UCL. However, that was a full tear. This injury is a lot more common with pitchers in baseball, and the surgery for it is the famous, Tommy John Surgery.
Through his two and a half games this season, Quickley is averaging 15 points and 4 assists on 50% true-shooting.
With Quickley out, expect Davion Mitchell to start in his place. Through 8 games as a starter, Mitchell has provided nearly 10 points and 7 assists on 47/32/78 shooting splits (57% true-shooting). He’s also been one of the Raptors most impressive defenders, which isn’t all that impressive on the worst team (by the numbers) defensively in the NBA. Still though, I think Mitchell has been pretty good relative to expectations. The offense doesn’t stick with him running it.
We can also expect a sizable uptick in the shot attempts and usage of both RJ Barrett & Gradey Dick. While the Raptors haven’t been world beaters with Quickley out (or in, mind you), for those that are particularly interested in the development of the aforementioned Raptors, well, you get to see a lot more data in a shorter window.
Have a blessed day.
