On December 29, the same day the Raptors organization made the Mo Bamba signing official with a press release, the team also provided an update on starting center Jakob Poeltl. The 30-year-old has been struggling with a nagging back injury that has been affecting him for most of the 2025-26 campaign, where he's missed the last four straight games out for Toronto.
The news release would mention that Poeltl "will not play for the next week" and that he is "currently completing a program of intensive rehabilitation and strengthening." It would also state that "... he will be reevaluated for a return to play and his status will be updated as appropriate."
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl sidelined for at least a week
Now we all know what happened when the Raptors organization issued an official press release about RJ Barrett's injury last month. It quickly went from Barrett being unavailable for a week to missing fifteen straight games and being out for five weeks, going through plasma injections while on the shelf. Thankfully, Barrett has found his way back into the Raptors mix, working to regain his game speed after a minutes restriction during the game against the Golden State Warriors on December 28.
The situation with Poeltl is definitely far from the same ordeal as Barrett's, but there is a lot at stake with his absence. In the games this season when Toronto has had to go without Poeltl in the lineup, they have gone 7-6. Although Poeltl is a significant part of the Raptors' core, as Darko Rajakovic recently emphasized, the team has still managed to stay somewhat competitive without their only traditional center. However, moments like using Scottie Barnes as the five man in the Warriors game are not sustainable in the long run — Toronto needs true bigs.
Trying to think positively here for a bit, there is a silver lining in that Toronto did not announce Poeltl as being out for the season or undergoing surgery. With the scary combination of age and back issues, there was a sense of fear spreading within Raptors Nation that this could have been the ultimate grim outcome. From a realistic standpoint, however, there isn't much to celebrate regarding Jakob Poeltl's injury situation. The most Raptors fans can hope for is that he is able to get back to an acceptable form, because every cent of that 104 million dollar extension is on the line.