Raptors Injury News: Jakob Poeltl getting close to return

Both positive and negative news ahead of the tipoff for Toronto’s final meeting with Atlanta this season, as Darko Rajakovic announced that Jakob Poeltl is close to a return.

Jakob Poeltl has been cleared for contact, per Darko Rajakovic. He’s progressing well and is reconditioning ahead of his return. He remains out tonight.

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 5, 2026

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.

Alijah Martin and Chucky Hepburn join him on the Raptors injury list for tonight’s game due to their Two-Way contracts.

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.

Just in: Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young and his agents, Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown, are working with the franchise on a trade, sources tell ESPN. Young's reps and the Hawks have started collaborative talks over the last week on finding a resolution. pic.twitter.com/dUCNnDKqTt

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 5, 2026

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