Raptors rookie Murray-Boyles out for Summer League opener
Collin Murray-Boyles highly anticipated Toronto Raptors Summer League debut will have to wait.
The Raptors’ ninth overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft missed their Summer League opener against the Chicago Bulls with an adductor strain, Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy reported Friday.
Beyond a bout with mononucleosis that held Murray-Boyles out for the beginning of the 2023-24 college season, the South Carolina product has no known history of missing time due to injury or illness.
The Raptors started Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle, Jonathan Mogbo and Colin Castleton – all players who logged significant rotation minutes and made starts for Toronto last season – in Murray-Boyles absence.
The 20-year-old lottery pick averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks last season with the Gamecocks. Murray-Boyles 2.8 stocks in just over 30 minutes per game certainly pop off the page and his defensive tape backs it up in spades.
Standing at six-foot-seven and possessing a seven-foot-one wingspan, Murray-Boyles ability to use his physical gifts to blow up actions and make plays on defence garnered him a reputation as one of the best defenders in this season’s draft class. His explosiveness for his weight and tremendous instincts make his defence an easy sell.
The Chicago Bulls 12th overall pick in the 2025 draft, Noa Essengue, debuted for the Bulls. Essengue was rumoured to be an option for the Raptors at No. 9, which intensified after the French forward cited Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes as influences on his game during an interview.
There is no confirmation yet on the severity of the injury and how it will potentially impact the remainder of Summer League or training camp beyond that for Murray-Boyles. His next opportunity to suit up in a Raptors uniform for the first time comes on July 13 against the Orlando Magic.
The post Raptors rookie Murray-Boyles out for Summer League opener first appeared on Raptors Republic.