Report: VanVleet to undergo left thumb surgery

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet plans to undergo surgery to fix ligament damage in his left thumb, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet will undergo surgery for ligament damage in his left thumb and miss approximately five weeks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 13, 2019

The surgery is expected to sideline VanVleet for approximately five weeks, which would allow him to return to the floor before the playoffs begin on April 13.

The third-year guard has been impressive in Toronto with career-high averages for points (10.5), assists (4.6), rebounds (2.7) and minutes (26.8) over 51 games this season.

On Monday, the Raptors announced VanVleet would miss three weeks due to the ligament injury in his left thumb.

With VanVleet sidelined, veteran Jeremy Lin should be able to bolster the Raptors’ guard rotation. After being waived by the Hawks on Monday, the 30-year-old officially signed with Toronto on Wednesday.

Lin posted to Instagram about the move saying he’s, “hyped” to join the Raptors.

View this post on Instagram

THANK YOU to the Hawks so much for this opportunity. Coming off of 2 years of being injured, you helped me become myself again on the basketball court and allowed me to experience the joy of hoops again! Thank you to the Ressler family, to Travis, to Coach Pierce, to my teammates. An organization that does things the right way, treats people the right way! What an honor it's been to get to play with Vince the and to watch these young guys develop. The future is bright for Atlanta!!! I truly mean that! Everyone who knows me knows how big my dreams are and that I have so much left to give to the game. Hyped to join the Raptors!! Galatians 6:9 #WeTheNorth #NeverDone

A post shared by Jeremy Lin 林書豪 (@jlin7) on Feb 11, 2019 at 11:35am PST

The Raptors (42-16) are currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.