The Toronto Raptors took a risk when they traded a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs to reacquire former No. 9 overall pick and Kawhi Leonard trade piece Jakob Poeltl, but Masai Ujiri was adamant on getting a rim-protecting big man who could solve the team's lack of overall size.
The trade not only forced the Raptors to part with a first-round pick, which was later used by the Minnesota Timberwolves to select point guard Rob Dillingham at No. 8 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, but they also parted with two second-round picks when they were fighting for a play-in spot.
The Spurs used the first of those two second-round picks to select Sidy Cissoko, and the Detroit Pistons used the No. 37 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to select Tennessee wing Chaz Lanier. Toronto could have used this in tandem with the No. 39 pick to land more quality depth, but Poeltl denied them that chance.
Raptors' Jakob Poeltl trade details finalized during 2025 NBA Draft
Lanier is an old rookie who is already 23 years old, but he did average 18.0 points per game with the Volunteers last season while hitting almost 40% of his 3-point attempts. Lanier could have competed with Ochai Agbaji and others for minutes in Toronto.
While the Raptors have been shopping Poeltl in the offseason, their lack of tremendous interior depth has put him in a very precarious position. Once again, Toronto has a surplus of 6-7 to 6-9 players that leaves them deficient at point guard and center heading into the season.
The one silver lining from the Poeltl trade is the fact that he has been exactly as advertised. Poeltl had the finest statistical season of a very productive career, as he averaged 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds per game on a Raptors team that struggled with injuries often.
While Poeltl has been exactly what Ujiri thought he would be getting, and he's given the Raptors a fairly economical starting center option who can pile up the double-doubles, the trade may not have been the most beneficial move for the Raptors in totality. Let's hope Collin Murray-Boyles can help make up for this trade.