Top 5 most promising Raptors under the age of 25
By Chris Mckee
No.3 Jakob Poeltl 7-foot Utah – Age: 21
Poeltl was the Raptors first of two first-round draft picks in the 2016 NBA draft.
The Raps selected him with the ninth overall pick out of the University of Utah where he was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2016.
If you can dominate the Pac-12 against competition that features the likes of UCLA, USC and Oregon, you have to be a promising player.
Poeltl played in 54 games for the Raptors with only four starts during his rookie season which produced some mixed results.
He took advantage of some late season opportunities in the Raptors line up to show some flashes of promise that made him such a highly coveted big man coming out of college.
It takes the big guys a little longer to reach their potential in the NBA in comparison to a flashy 6-foot-5 guard, so the jury is still out on the 7-foot Poeltl.
However, Poeltl will be expected to be a much bigger contributor during the 2017-18 season and turn that promise into production. Look out for him to pressure the incumbent starter Jonas Valanciunas for minutes by the second half of the season.