"Coach Darko also announced that the Austrian centre has been cleared for contact, meaning he is ready for practice, and now it's just a matter of getting his conditioning back into game shape. With how cautious Rajakovic has been with dealing with RJ Barrett's return, it's almost a certainty that Poeltl would most likely be on a minutes restriction when we see his return to NBA competition."
"The news also confirmed that Yak is out for tonight's matchup with the Hawks. Poeltl was last seen in a competitive environment just over two weeks ago, back on December 21, 2025, in a 96-81 road loss in Brooklyn, where he was only able to play for seven minutes, contributing two points and two rebounds before leaving the game early due to aggravating a back injury."
"The Hawks have a much bigger injury list as they'll be without N'Faly Dante (ACL), RayJ Dennis (Two-Way), Nikola Djurisic (G-League), Malik Williams (Two-Way) and finally Trae Young (Quad), although it's more likely that they are keeping him healthy as news broke around the same time that Young has had enough of Atlanta and he wants to move forward with a new team via a trade."
Jakob Poeltl has been cleared for contact and is reconditioning to return to game action, though he remains out for tonight's matchup. Poeltl last played on December 21, 2025, leaving after seven minutes with a back injury and finishing that game with two points and two rebounds. Coaching staff expect a minutes restriction when Poeltl returns as conditioning is rebuilt. Alijah Martin and Chucky Hepburn join the Raptors' injury list due to Two-Way contracts. The Atlanta Hawks have multiple players unavailable, and Trae Young is involved in ongoing trade discussions with the franchise.
Read at Raptors Republic
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