The Toronto Raptors have granted guard Goran Dragic permission to leave the team. Dragic will be away indefinitely while he attends to a personal matter.

"Goran is taking some time away from the team, with our full support, to manage a personal matter," Raptors General Manager Bobby Webster said in a team statement.

Dragic was traded to Toronto as part of the transaction that saw Kyle Lowry signed-and-traded to the Miami Heat. Dragic expressed disappointment in being traded to the Raptors and many assumed he would seek a buyout or another trade. Dragic has played in just five of Toronto's first 20 games this season.

Unvaccinated professional and amateur athletes will not be allowed to travel to Canada as of January 15th.

Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal and Jonathan Isaac are among current NBA players who remain unvaccinated. Irving is already not allowed to play in home games for the Brooklyn Nets due to restrictions in New York City.

OG Anunoby missed his first game of the 2021-22 season on Thursday night. The Toronto Raptors forward has been diagnosed with a hip pointer that could keep him out for "a while", according to head coach Nick Nurse.

“They just said it’s a hip pointer and according to Alex McKechnie (Raptors vice president of player health and performance), it’ll be a while,” said Nurse.

Anunoby is averaging career-highs nearly across the board for Toronto. He's upped his scoring to 20.1 points per game, while also averaging a career-best 2.7 assists per game.

Toronto is off to a 7-9 start, in part due to missing players from the lineup. The Raptors recently got Pascal Siakam back after he finished rehabbing from offseason shoulder injury.

The NBA's investigation into possible pre-free agency tampering on the sign-and-trade acquisitions of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry are in their advanced stages.

The Chicago Bulls acquired Ball from the New Orleans Pelicans, while the Miami Heat acquired Lowry from the Toronto Raptors.

The NBA has conducted interviews with team executives and player agents while also gathering electronic messaging of front office executives of the four teams.

The NBA instituted more stringent penalties in these cases in 2019, including raising the maximum fine for teams to $10 million and including the possibility of suspending team executives, forfeiting draft picks and even the voiding of contracts. 

The Milwaukee Bucks lost a 2022 second round pick for tampering charges with Bogdan Bogdanovic. 

Fred VanVleet's first season as the Toronto Raptors primary point guard is off to a terrific start. That start has VanVleet thinking big.

"I definitely would like to be an All-Star," said VanVleet. "I want to win all the awards. I want to be All-Defensive ... Those are all goals that I have. The good thing for me is that I probably won't achieve any of those if we aren't a good team or a top team."

While VanVleet has lofty individual goals, he remains focused on the Raptors getting back to their winning ways.

"I'm feeling OK about how we have started as a team and myself personally. I am OK with where I am at, but I could be playing a lot better for myself and to just try and impact the game a little bit more in terms of wins and losses," VanVleet said.

VanVleet is averaging 18.9 points and a career-best 7.2 assists per game, as he's replaced Kyle Lowry as Toronto's primary point guard. He's also leading the NBA in minutes at 38.8 per game. Despite the increased role, VanVleet is also shooting a career-high from the field, while maintaining his solid defensive play.

Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam will make his season debut on Sunday. Siakam missed the first 10 games of the season, as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Toronto hosts the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

Siakam will have his minutes limited when he returns, per Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. Nurse also said he hasn't decided on a starting lineup after Siakam comes back. OG Anunoby and rookie Scottie Barnes have started at the forward spots for Toronto to this point.

The Raptors have opened to a 6-4 start without their star forward. Nurse hinted that Toronto may use some three-forward lineups with Siakam, Anunoby and Barnes when all three are healthy.

The Toronto Raptors will waive Sam Dekker ahead of his contract guarantee date.

With the Raptors near the tax line, they will likely maintain a 14-man roster until the Goran Dragic situation is resolved.

The Raptors are now $618,540 below the tax line with a current projection of $13 million per team that is below the tax, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Pascal Siakam could make his season debut next week as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.

"He's getting closer everyday," Nick Nurse said Friday before the Raptors' game against visiting Cleveland. "Everything has checked out pretty good. He's hit all the checkmarks and everything of where he's supposed to be, or maybe even a little ahead.

"I would imagine maybe next week we'll see him on the court... He's been practising with contact for over a week now. All of that has been pretty short. Practices aren't long. He has had a couple runs with the 905 (Toronto's G League affiliate) as well."

Siakam averaged 21.4 points and 7.2 rebounds a game last season for Toronto.