The Toronto Raptors have a torrid love affair going on with center Jakob Poeltl. Finally, however, a new crush may allow them to break free and move on from Poeltl like they know that they should.
Not to belabor the point, but the only word to describe the enchantment that Poeltl appears to have put on the Raptors' front office is enraptured. Disney would call it "twitterpated". Going back years, the Raptors continue to ignore the evidence and pour resources into ensuring that Poeltl never leaves them.
They traded a future first-round pick that landed at No. 8 and a pair of seconds to bring him back to Toronto in 2023, then handed him a lucrative new contract that ensured they would have his cement-laden feet and pot-holder-covered hands in a Toronto uniform for years to come. Then, after two seasons of mediocre play, the front office decided they couldn't possibly risk losing him down the line, and gave him a massive raise on a new extension this past summer.
No one is out there trying to overpay Jakob Poeltl to entice him away from the Raptors. The front office has built a team that is light on shooting but high on defensive versatility. Yet all of that goes out the window when Poeltl plays, who is largely limited to conservative defensive schemes (not that he is particularly good at them) and who does nothing to help floor spacing on offense.
The largest reason why the Raptors refuse to move on from Poeltl is that they have had nothing behind him to turn to. Kelly Olynyk couldn't do anything defensively. Bruno Fernando, Precious Achiuwa, Orlando Robinson and Colin Castleton all had a very low ceiling. They let Branden Carlson walk for nothing. Untimely health issues stopped the development of Christian Koloko and Ulrich Chomche.
Finally, however, all that may be about to change.
The Raptors finally have a center to be excited about
Sometime in the last year, a light bulb has gone off for the Toronto Raptors. Perhaps it came from the coaching staff, or from the front office shake-up, or from watching LeBron James and Steve Nash talk about basketball on YouTube. Somehow, they got the idea: what if they took a defensively versatile roster and added defensively versatile centers?
Jonathan Mogbo was the first crack at this, but he was drafted because he was buddies with Scottie Barnes and not because he had the upside to be a starting center in the NBA. This year, however, in lieue of drafting a true center like Khaman Maluach or Joan Beringer or Thomas Sorber in the draft, the Raptors took undersized but versatile big Collin Murray-Boyles.
The rookie out of South Carolina has been a revelation thus far this season. Poeltl has been limited to just six games due to injury, giving the rookie plenty of opportunity to show his stuff. And his stuff has been incredible.
That's not to say it has been perfect, or even star-worthy. In fact, the Raptors are being outscored when he is on the court. But it has unlocked something for the Raptors that they should have been pursuing all along. Murray-Boyles is shooting 47.1 percent from deep to start the season; it's unsustainable, but something magical when compared to Jakob Poeltl's lack of shooting. He is drawing fouls, he is racking up steals and is injecting energy into the lineup when he checks into the game.
CMB has a lot of growing to do to become a full-time starter, and he and Poeltl both are being outplayed by another offseason addition, Sandro Mamukelashvili; the Raptors are outscoring opponents by 19.9 points per 100 when he is on the court without the other two. Yet this new approach to defense -- swarming, switching, chaotic -- fits perfectly with Scottie Barnes, and there are a variety of bench platyers who can leap right into the chaos as well.
Do the Raptors need to stay chained to traditional, low-ceiling, aging Jakob Poeltl? Or can they lean into youth and energy and excitement? While Collin Murray-Boyles still has a ways to go, he is showing the organization there is a different way to play - and it is magnificent.