The NBA Trade Deadline was interwoven with after effects of the Toronto Raptors trading for Jakob Poeltl three years ago. And with every report and transaction, one thing became clear: the Poeltl trade has turned into a disaster that impacts multiple teams.
The Raptors were fighting to make the playoffs in 2023 when they traded for Jakob Poelt at the Trade Deadline, bringing back the Latvian center they had drafted ninth overall in 2016. The cost was significant: backup center Khem Birch, a pair of second-round picks, and a lightly-protected 2024 first-round pick that turned into the No. 8 selection.
The Poeltl trade has been a disaster for Toronto
For the Raptors, investing in Poeltl has turned into a disaster at every level. The first thing that they did was hand him a new contract extension, ensuring that they would need to keep Poeltl on the roster as their starting center for years to come. It paid him the market rate of an above-average center when he was anything but.
Then came two years of good, but not great, play at the center position, interspersed with a plethora of injuries. The most significant has been the back injury he is currently grappling with, an injury that could be debilitating and cost him the rest of his prime.
With a mediocre, aging, injury-prone center on the roster, the Raptors made a choice that was anything but obvious: they extended him, tacking three extra seasons onto a contract that had multiple years remaining. He will be paid like a fringe Top-10 center despite being more of a Bottom-10 starting center.
This overpay reared its head at this year’s trade deadline when the Raptors were unable to move off of Poeltl in a trade. Any team willing to take him was demanding steep payment for their troubles. They handed Poeltl a lucrative long-term contract and it was instantly underwater and has gotten worse since.
The Poeltl trade is cursed all-around
It does appear that it’s not just Poeltl, however; every part of that trade is cursed. Khem Birch hasn’t played in the NBA since the deal, washing out of the NBA entirely. And the first-round pick that they traded to San Antonio was then flipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves and used on Kentucky combo guard Rob Dillingham.
The Wolves just dumped Dillingham as salary ballast at the trade deadline after he failed to develop into the play they needed. His shooting was inconsistent, his defense was nonexistent, and his speed only made up for so much. Not only has Poeltl become a disaster, but everything traded for him has as well.
Toronto is going to attempt to dig themselves out of this hole in the summer, and perhaps they can find a landing place for Poeltl that doesn’t cost them an arm-and-a-leg. And perhaps Dillingham finds his legs in Chicago.
The trade, however, has in every way become an abject disaster, and the aftershocks continue to this day.