After dropping their first NBA Canada Series preseason game to Miami, the Toronto Raptors turned things around against the Clippers, defeating them 114–106 on Saturday night. Watching the game, I (and many others in the Raptors’ sphere) couldn’t help but be impressed by Jakob Poeltl, who has been a polarizing figure of the franchise for quite some time.
Poeltl played just over 21 minutes, putting up nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, four rebounds, one assist, and two steals. On paper, that might just look like a modest stat line. But from the eye test, this looked like a much more rejuvenated Jak than the one we’ve seen lately. He moved fluidly, played scrappy, dove for loose balls, and looked much more polished on his cuts.
And those two cuts really stood out. Sure, it’s a small sample from what some might consider a relatively meaningless preseason game, but man, Poeltl’s movement looked leaps and bounds better. On one play, Scottie Barnes found him inside after a Clippers defensive miscommunication left the big man wide open for an easy layup. On the second, RJ Barrett (who continues to shine this preseason) found Kyle Anderson, who showed off those wily veteran chops he now brings to Toronto by immediately setting up Poeltl for a clean cutting dunk.
With all the buzzing chatter surrounding Jak and whether he still deserves to be the Raptors’ starting center, this was a glimpse of the Jakob Poeltl this team has desperately missed.
A steady (and healthy) Jakob Poeltl in the Raptors’ frontcourt will be central to their goals
Yes, Collin Murray-Boyles continues to impress and has put together more than enough of an audition to potentially steal the spotlight from Poeltl. But as we saw in this game, and heard from Coach Rajakovic himself, the team seems intent on finding a way to play CMB and Poeltl together this season — not simply choosing one over the other.
This promising return to form from Poeltl could ease the pressure on CMB jumping into the frontcourt shark tank. As we’ve explored before here at Raptors Rapture, asking too much of the youngster could wear him down and raise his injury risk. So, if Poeltl can deliver this kind of game even every other night, it could significantly raise the Raptors’ ceiling on that end.
Still, Poeltl will need to keep it up as the Raptors face tougher competition in the regular season — especially more imposing, athletic, and gritty teams. I can recall a few flashes, particularly a late-February game against the Spurs, no less, when Poeltl looked amazing and arguably put up his best performance of a downturn 2025–26 season. Then, in the playoffs, Jak simply couldn’t build on the turnaround that seemed to be on the horizon and was largely a non-factor. I’d like to think he was just playing through less-than-100% health, because this preseason game showed Jakob Poeltl still has something left in the tank.
If he’s truly back to full strength, with his bad back on the back burner (pun intended), Poeltl should be able to get into the thick of the action more consistently. He’ll be expected to hustle for offensive and defensive boards, embrace the physicality of the game again, and show opposing teams that a revived Poeltl in the Raptors’ frontcourt is nothing to take lightly.
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