4 Toronto Raptors at risk of being traded away this summer

No. 2: Jakob Poeltl

Jakob Poeltl may seem like one of the most unlikely trade candidates on the roster. The Raptors are in real danger of giving up a Top-8 pick in the draft to the San Antonio Spurs this season because they used it to trade for Poeltl at last year's Trade Deadline. Would they really look to move on from him so soon?

The Raptors certainly wouldn't be trying to dump Poeltl, both because of his defensive value and the cost it took to acquire him. The way Poeltl could be involved, however, is if the Raptors go big-fish hunting for a star-level big man.

Toronto desperately needs Poeltl's size and rim protection on defense; their current spiral at the time of writing illustrates how ill-equipped they are with Poeltl out of the lineup. Yet he is also 28 years old, is worse offensively than his reputation and is under contract for another three seasons. Moving on from him in a smart move to get younger, either to a team willing to overpay for him or in part of a larger deal for a star, would make a fair bit of sense.

It's possible that in a league saturated with centers and increasingly enamored with skilled bigs, the market for Poeltl simply won't be there. In that case, the Raptors are in no rush to move on from him. Yet assuming the core of Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Gradey Dick are off-limit in trade, Poeltl becomes the most value player who could realistically be moved in a big-swing deal this summer.