Friday night marks the second NBA Cup day of the 2026-27 NBA regular season, and the Toronto Raptors are finishing off their four-game road trip with a group stage match against the Milwaukee Bucks. Coming off a substantial loss to the Denver Nuggets, Toronto is looking to finish with an even record throughout the trip, after splitting with the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

Milwaukee enters the contest with a 1-7 record, tied for the worst in the NBA. While the Raptors continue to try to prove their worth in a highly contested Eastern Conference, taking a loss to a rebuilding team like the Bucks would put a damper on the league’s perception of them.

The official NBA injury report details nothing of significance for the Raptors, outside of one small blemish. Seven-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard remains out as he works to gain his conditioning back after being out due to swelling in his left knee. He’s joined on the sidelines by all three two-way players, Nate Bittle, Malachi Smith, and newly signed Kevin McCullar Jr. 

However, franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes was a late addition to the report; he’s listed as questionable due to left adductor/groin soreness and tightness. He was visibly limited in the game against the Clippers, but was able to power through his discomfort to lead the Raptors to a comeback win. He was listed as questionable heading into that matchup, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this were just a precautionary tag. As for Milwaukee, only the two-ways are listed,  Kam Jones, Pete Nance, and Cormac Ryan, along with Bogoljub Markovic, who was assigned to the G League.

Obviously, if Barnes isn’t able to play, the Raptors offense will look severely different. With Leonard on the bench, the former No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA draft has emphatically established himself as a top scoring option in the NBA. Before scoring just 17 points against Denver, he had averaged 30 points, eight rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game in the previous four contests. Taking him and Leonard, who averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game last season, off the floor forces the ball to run through RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Ja’Kobe Walter. 

As for the potential replacement for Barnes in the starting lineup, head coach Darko Rajakovic would likely go to Jamison Battle, who has quietly been one of the best scorers and three-point shooters available off the bench. A more bold option would be to start Collin Murray-Boyles alongside Jakob Poeltl; the two have mostly split the center minutes so far this year, but Rajakovic has made a point to find more minutes for them together. The All-Rookie Second-Team selection has expanded his offensive arsenal and range, which would allow Poeltl to focus more on ball-screens and rim-running should they share the floor.