The big man from Austria got locked down to stay in town.
After months of the rumor mill proving topsy-turvy about what the next chapter entailed for Raptors center Jakob Poeltl, the answer was finally revealed to be a four-year, $104 million extension, according to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania in an X post from July 1.
The process of the deal was explained as follows: Poeltl would agree to his 2026-27 player option worth $19.5 million, with an additional three years added to his contract, steadily rising from a range of $25 million to $30 million by the end of that deal in the 2029-30 season.
It's definitely not far off from the number I suggested in my previous piece, "How much should the Raptors shell out to keep Jakob Poeltl in town?" where I concluded that an appropriate extension range would be "likely between $23 million and $30 million per year."
Furthermore, this extension doesn't come too far off the heels of what NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein noted on Substack from June 21, where they highlighted that Toronto's hesitancy to include Poeltl in trade talks was an obvious sign that a mutual extension was being worked out.
So Poeltl is here to stay. That's definitely one sigh of relief out of the way for Toronto's future outlook.
But for the casual watcher or perhaps the less conscientious Raptors fan, looking at what Poeltl is set to earn as he ages into a mid-30s center, it might seem like Toronto is shooting itself in the foot... especially with the financial burdens already on their books, like the Immanuel Quickley or Brandon Ingram extension or Scottie Barnes' new deal kicking in.
It's one thing that Toronto might have bitten off more than they could chew by shelling out a hefty amount for an inconsistent guard like Immanuel Quickley, but I’d argue that keeping Jakob Poeltl was just as much of a priority for the Raptors to deliver on.
Raptors had to pay Jakob Poeltl to match up as a competitive squad
We’ve seen what the Raptors look like without Poeltl on the court. As much as he’s a negative floor spacer, it’s his ability to anchor the defense, serve as a reliable pick-and-roll partner, and find the open man when needed with his playmaking prowess.
Say what you will about the Raptors already being a pretty mediocre or underwhelming team, but I think the Toronto front office knows darn well that if Poeltl were to somehow walk in free agency, it’d would likely cause them to fall even further down the competitive ladder.
Look at the shifting of big men out East, Kristaps Porzingis and Onyeka Okongwu will be the men down low for Atlanta, while in Milwaukee, we’ll see Myles Turner suiting up alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. I don’t think it really mattered what the number was to keep Jakob Poeltl in town because without him, Toronto would be toast... plain and simple.
Like I referred to in the title, the money Toronto shelled out to extend Jakob Poeltl will be a classic example of "the ends justify the means."