Josh Cornelissen of Raptors Rapture just pointed out that the Raptors are now free to trade their 30-year-old veteran center, Jakob Poeltl, after signing him to an extension this past summer. The deal keeps him on the team's salary sheet for another four years and is worth $104 million — but that decision could quickly turn into an all-time franchise mistake if Poeltl’s injury concerns don’t improve.
Thankfully, recent team updates and insights from Darko Rajakovic revealed that Poeltl has been cleared for contact and could be back in the lineup very soon. Even before that, the Raptors have been extra cautious in how they handle him. For a guy earning a top-five salary on the team — whether it’s his fault or not — it’s definitely not ideal to be playing this cautious game with such a pivotal piece of the lineup.
As great as Collin Murray-Boyles and Scottie Barnes have been in the interim, we've seen how the Raptors can struggle without a traditional center out there.
NBA analysts Zach Lowe and Fred Katz discussed this very topic on a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show (YouTube link here). Lowe, in particular, highlighted how Poeltl’s back issue has essentially forced the Raptors into a duck hunt for a competent big to fill the gap and address the issues it causes.
Raptors could struggle to get teams on board with Jakob Poeltl’s contract
"… we called it like weirdest or most bizarre contract of the offseason. And my pick was the [Jakob] Poeltl extension. Three years, whatever it was, that pays him $27 million in 2030, $29 million in 2029. So, it declines a little bit. It's not a huge, crippling amount of money. I just didn't get it. And if I'm another team, and I've got to take that contract in a trade, like no, no thanks. Like, Jakob Poeltl is a good player. Good all-around player. It's just, I didn't get it. But anyway, I think they'll look at all the bigs. "Zach Lowe, January 6, 2026
Speaking on the options of different rumored-to-be-available bigs, there is Mavericks star Anthony Davis. His injury troubles and questionable ability to stay healthy for extended periods are a bit concerning. But Lowe himself mentioned it’s something to consider, not something to jump into “just randomly.”
Flipping one injury-riddled guy for another isn’t exactly the most ideal scenario, even when you consider AD is miles ahead as a star compared to Poeltl. And as Lowe says, how many teams are really out there in the trade market willing to take on this now-negative asset — one that will still eat up a good chunk of salary, even if it’s not the worst in the world? It’s still a tough situation to figure out.
Perhaps for now, Toronto is a bit at a disadvantage with Poeltl just freshly signed to the extension. But as that contract winds down, or if other negative assets start to emerge around the league, teams might be more willing to buy into the Poeltl money. We’ll just have to keep a close eye to see if the Raps can somehow convince a team between now and the trade deadline to make things happen.