Raps Injury Concerns?

Doug Smith from the Star wrote this article today stating the Raptors cannot have a normal scrimmage in practice due to the fact that they are down to only nine healthy players. Implicitly, he is criticizing management for taking the budget route and only signing the NBA minimum of 13 players to the roster, rather than the normal 15 players.

More importantly, is Smith right to be concerned?

Well, considering the fact that the four guys injured at this moment are:

-Jamario Moon (day-to-day, sore achilles)
-Will Soloman (day-to-day, sore hamstring)
-Hassan Adams (day-to-day, sore shoulder)
-Nathan Jawai (mysterious heart/respiratory problem)

I'd say it's time for Doug Smith to simmer the hell down.

Missing those four characters for a Sunday afternoon practice is no need to push the panic button, let alone write an article about the team's early season injury concerns.

I realize that he gets paid to write stuff, but this story ranks incredibly high on the "who-gives-a-rats-ass?" scale. Real concerns, like the fact that there is no proven backup point guard, there is a lack of talent on the wings, or that the second unit has been abysmal in the preseason, all seem slightly more pressing. I suppose he'd already beaten the dead horse with those ones though.

If the team goes an extended period of time with only 9 players then there will be cause for concern. As of right now, this is a non-issue.