Raptors remain with Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam to start second half [UPDATE]

UPDATE: March 10, 5:13 p.m. — So the All-Star Break has come and gone, yet the Raptors will still be without FVV, Siakam, OG, Flynn and McCaw. It’s been almost two weeks the Raptors have been without Siakam, Anunoby and VanVleet. All three have been sidelined since at least Feb. 26. Terence Davis is now on the injury report with an ankle ailment and is questionable to play Thursday vs. the Atlanta Hawks.

So with everyone still sidelined, we can continue to lean on Norman Powell and Chris Boucher in tournaments. The Raptors have played alright despite the absence of key players, so we’ll see if this news impacts the lines heading into Thursday. The Hawks are still a question mark under new coach Nate McMillan. The Hawks have a lot of work to do to get into the playoffs as well.

Toronto Raptors G Fred VanVleet, PF Pascal Siakam and SF OG Anunoby are among five players sidelined Wednesday vs. the Detroit Pistons. Those three are joined by G Malachi Flynn and F Patrick McCaw in health and safety protocols. This game was supposed to be played on Tuesday night but was instead moved to Wednesday. Siakam has been in health and safety protocols since last week, along with head coach Nick Nurse and members of the coaching staff.

So without all five of those players, we can expect the Raptors roster to look something like this for the game:

Potential starters

PG: Kyle Lowry
SG: Norman Powell
SF: DeAndre’ Bembry
PF: Chris Boucher
C: Aron Baynes

Bench: Terence Davis, Matt Thomas, Yuta Watanabe, Stanley Johnson, Donta Hall

So this isn’t really a terrible rotation against one of the worst teams in the East in the Pistons. Powell and Lowry will be popular plays in DFS along with Boucher. We’ll see what kind of line comes out for this game. If the Raptors are getting points, that would be a line to jump at. Jerami Grant is being listed as questionable for Detroit, so if he ends up out, it’s a better spot for the Raps.