Young has been a saving grace for injury and illness-ravaged Raptors

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Pascal Siakam has now missed the past nine games and it will likely be a few more before he’s back.

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Of that nine, Fred VanVleet has been out for three and the three games prior including the Dallas game where Siakam went down with that adductor strain.

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Scottie Barnes went down with a knee sprain and sat out the loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday while Gary Trent Jr. sat out three before returning Wednesday.

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The only starter – and no, this is not a jinx – that has remained healthy is O.G. Anunoby.

Undeniably he has been carrying a load bigger than he ever has before.

But if Anunoby hasn’t been the best Raptor over this stretch the next best answer is 16-year vet Thaddeus Young who earlier this season was having issues even getting minutes.

Young was a pivotal locker room presence a year ago for the Raptors coming over at the trade deadline from San Antonio and establishing a presence to the point that management offered him a two-year extension at the age of 34 valued at $16 million although the second year is only partially guaranteed.

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From his 2007 draft class in which Young was selected 12^th overall by Philadelphia, no player has played more games than Young’s 1,100 and only Kevin Durant has played more NBA minutes.

Among active players who have played at least one game this year only LeBron James and Chris Paul have played more NBA games over their careers than Young.

But forget all the history, right now you can make the case that Young is the No. 1 or No. 2 reason the Raptors haven’t gone into free fall with all the injuries and illness they’ve been experiencing these past three weeks or so.

Young isn’t just that wise sage in the locker room anymore or even that old head taking care of the reserves. He’s out there nightly holding down the fort for 30-35 minutes a night while continuing to provide a steadying influence when everything seems off the rails.

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“He’s been good,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said of Young. “I think that [he] just kind of continues to do the same thing, you know, eight or 10, 12 shots a night, shoots a pretty high percentage, gets a solid number of rebounds, is doing a good job leadership-wise too. He’s good in the huddles and he’s trying to keep those guys going. Things like that. So, he’s been a true pro.”

Even Nurse sounds like he needs some of that positivity right now. Like many in the locker room he sounds like a man dealing with some illness or other and like many in that room is playing through it.

The hacking and coughing going on in the Raptors’ locker room these days has even media personnel keeping their distance these days.

Young though has been a rock through it all.

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At 34 and in his 16^th season, 30-minute plus nights are not supposed to be the norm, but he’s started the past five games logging between 27 and 35 minutes a night.

His secret? Attention to his body and lots and lots of time in both the cold and hot tubs.

“Yes, taking care of your body at all costs. Making sure that after these games you’re cold tubbing it, you’re hot tubbing it, you’re getting on the training table and getting some manual therapy, just making sure that you take care of your body at all costs.”

It doesn’t always make him popular with the people in his life, but Young knows it’s a necessity.

“Usually, my wife and kids are waiting on me and texting me, ‘What’s taking so long?’ I’m usually the last guy in the locker room and stuff like that but they understand,” he said. “They understand that in order for me to keep chugging along I have to usually take care of my body and make sure I’m doing the things I need to continue to play. That’s what I’m teaching my young sons, just taking care of your body, and making sure that you do the things that you need to do.”

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The lesson though applies to his younger teammates too. Young reels off a list of influential vets in his life but one of the real standards for how he has always approached the game is a one-time Raptor who had a work ethic next to none.

“One of the guys that you know nobody really ever thinks of, there’s a guy named Reggie Evans,” Young began. “He was a rebounding machine and worked his butt off and played a long time in the league and I was fortunate and blessed enough to have him as a teammate.

“He taught me a lot of stuff about playing hard, just going out there and giving it your all,” Young said. “And watching him and seeing him you know, that turned my mindset completely different to go out and make sure that I’m doing that every single night. You know, because those are the guys who last long periods of time.”

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Evans’s career lasted 13 years including two seasons in Toronto after he made such an impression on Young when the two shared a locker room in Philadelphia.

Young has already surpassed Evans in longevity and has no plans to slow down now.

As for the current predicament around the Raptors, Young again is the voice of reason, the calming influence. He may not have experienced something this bad before in his career in terms of the number of injuries and illnesses floating around that locker room, but he sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

“This is a very unfortunate time for us,” Young said. “The good thing is we can continue to try to get better and get the young guys better and we still can put ourselves in position to win basketball games.

“It’s not the end of the world, like we’re still in the early part of the season and we still have a chance to do really well,” he said. “The good thing for us is these injuries are happening right now. When these guys come back, we’re going to have guys who hadn’t played that have played now, they’re groomed. They understand how to play an NBA basketball game, they understand how to come in and contribute the way we need them to contribute, and it’ll be easier for them stepping in to fulfill the role.”

Spoken like a true pro.

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