The Toronto Raptors have spent years making mistakes due to their infatuation with Jakob Poeltl. Recent rumors suggest that they are ready to trade their seven-foot center for the first time -- but they also signal that the front office is preparing to mess it all up.
We've not been shy here at Raptors Rapture highlighting the mistakes made by Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster both when it comes to Jakob Poeltl. They traded for him to make a low-ceiling run at the playoffs, giving up the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft in the process.
This past summer, they compounded the error by giving him an unneccessary and lucrative contract extension that will pay him like a Top-15 center until he can earn AARP. He's not even a Top-15 now.
Rumors in recent weeks have pointed to a sea change, however, as the Raptors are looking around on the trade market for an upgrade at center. They have been one of the handful of teams mentioned with strong interest in Anthony Davis. They have been mentioned in conjunction with Domantas Sabonis. Their dream target is Jaren Jackson Jr.
Throughout the process, two things have become crystal clear, and the combination is pointing to the eventual disaster the Raptors are going to end up making. Unless something changes, the front office appears to be on track to mess up the Jakob Poeltl situation once again.
Raptors rumors paint a bleak picture
First, the league appears to view Poeltl's contract situation as overall negative value. While Poeltl is still a useful, low-end starting center, he is being paid like a much better player -- and, perhaps most importantly, he is under contract for a long time. Any team trading for him is clogging their books with his contract for another four seasons. That's a death sentence in the modern NBA landscape of tax aprons and hard caps.
Secondly, the Raptors are chasing players with very clear issues. Trading for Anthony Davis means adding a player who is better than Poeltl, to be sure, but also more expensive, more injury-prone, and more advanced in years -- all three are already problems for Poeltl.
If the Raptors instead make a run at Domantas Sabonis, they are adding another expensive player who is likely one of the most overrated players in the entire league, a box score gobbler whose points and rebounds mask a complete inability to play winning basketball in the playoffs. Trading for Sabonis means ending any hopes of title contention.
Put the two together, and you get two horrifying outcomes. One, the Raptors pay through the nose to get off of Poeltl's contract and bring back a flawed replacement such as Davis or Sabonis (Jaren Jackson Jr. would be a dream addition, but there is no chance the Memphis Grizzlies are taking back Poeltl's contract). They would be paying for both the center they bring in and paying a team to take the center going out.
The other option if Poeltl's contract is too radioactive is to keep him and trade Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett together. That might be less expensive; Quickley is overpaid, but his contract is not the same level of albatross as Poeltl's, and Barrett has played well enough to be a positive asset.
Yet such a deal would have two of the Raptors' top four salaries tied up in non-shooting centers, and then pairing them in the frontcourt with Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. It's an offensive disaster and not exactly a defensive home run either. It would also leave them with depleted assets to invariably try to move off of Poeltl's contract at another time.
Moving on from Poeltl sounds like the right move, but the sins of the past may make that functionally impossible. What the Raptors cannot do is compound their mistake by digging the hole even deeper. Yet all signs point to Bobby Webster and company doing just that.
Things could get worse before they get better. And while Toronto is in the midst of a strong season, the pending hammer is going to hurt all the more.