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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - So much for "he could play if it were a regular season game."

The Raptors will begin the campaign without their new starting power forward, Jared Sullinger, who is scheduled to undergo surgery on his injured left foot in New York City on Monday.

Sullinger, 24, will have a screw inserted into the fifth metatarsal, a procedure the team is calling preventative.

Signed to a one-year deal over the summer, the veteran forward has been sidelined since getting his foot stepped on in the first exhibition game against Golden State on Oct. 1. Toronto was optimistic that Sullinger would be ready to go for Wednesday's season opener - last week he even indicated he could play if the games counted - but their concern for his long-term health has grown in recent days, prompting the decision to opt for surgery.

"It's just not progressing," Dwane Casey admitted following Sunday morning's practice. "We just have to go with what's there."

There's no timetable for Sullinger's return, however he's expected to miss extended time, upwards of six weeks.

It's a significant blow to both the team and the player. Sullinger turned down offers worth twice as much as the $5.63 million deal he signed with Toronto this past summer, intending to revive his once-promising career in a starting role for a winning team. After battling injuries, inconsistency, as well as weight and conditioning issues in Boston - where he spent his first four NBA seasons - he hoped to turn a breakout season with the Raptors into an even bigger payday next summer.

Meanwhile, for Toronto, the risk in taking Sullinger on was priced into that discount. Beyond the conditioning concerns, which have followed him since coming out of Ohio State, the former Celtic had missed 24 games with a stress fracture to the same foot in 2014-15. He was supposed to be sidelined for the remainder of that season but came back early, returning just in time to make his playoff debut.

In an odd turn of events, a stroke of unfortunate luck, the Raptors are losing a starter and their biggest free agent signing to an early-season foot injury for the second straight year (last season DeMarre Carroll was limited by plantar fasciitis before sustaining his knee injury). Sullinger figured to be a big part of their front court rotation this year. Not only was he primed to take over for Luis Scola as the starting power forward, Casey had planned on using him to help absorb some of the backup centre minutes following the departure of Bismack Biyombo.

Now, the Raptors will open the new season undermanned and may need to get creative with their rotation for as long as Sullinger is out. There's more pressure than ever on Carroll to stay healthy - Toronto is already thin at three and could look to use him some as a small-ball four - while the team's collection of young bigs will need to grow up in a hurry.

The next man up at power forward is rookie Pascal Siakam, the Raptors' 27th-overall pick in last June's draft. Although they'll continue to lean on Patrick Patterson - who should see a major uptick in playing time in this, his contract season - Casey prefers to bring the versatile vet in with the second unit. He'll almost certainly play the bulk of the minutes at the position and close games, but Siakam could very well step into the Scola role as Toronto's starter next to Jonas Valanciunas.

"Pascal has done an excellent job," Casey said of the 22-year-old native of Cameroon, who started the team's last four pre-season games. "He's making a lot of mistakes, but they're hard mistakes and you can live with that until he learns. He's an active young man and sometimes that in itself is hard to guard. If he's not sure what he's going to do, you're damn sure the opponent doesn't know what he's going to do. So that's good. I like his disposition, his spirit. His heart's in the right place and he's working his behind off." 

They won't ask much of him playing alongside Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Valanciunas. His job is simply to rebound, defend, set hard screens and bring energy - a role that should come naturally to him. However, like with any young player, particularly one thrown into the fire right out of the gate, there will be a learning curve, there will be ups and downs.

The Raptors have little choice but to navigate through the growing pains, be patient and make the best of an usual circumstance, at least for the foreseeable future. There aren't many clubs that go into a new season with aspirations of returning to the Conference Finals and one - or maybe even two - rookies in their regular rotation. That's not what Casey and his crew had banked on, but it's the card they've been dealt. Such is life in the NBA.