Why Jakob Poeltl should be Raptors’ trade deadline acquisition
The Toronto Raptors have spent the better part of the last half-decade navigating an uncertain trajectory with little more than hope as their guiding principle.
And in each of those seasons, the slow march toward the NBA trade deadline — as perilous as it feels walking through the snow-buried streets of Toronto these days — has felt equally unpredictable.
In part because labelling the Raptors front office as strictly buyers or sellers has never fit the franchise’s modus operandi.
But now, for the first time in a long time, there’s some surety about who the Raptors are as that Feb. 5 date approaches. More than halfway through the season, they’ve won the tied-fifth most games in the NBA — with the tied-11th-best win percentage — and have boasted a mostly top-five defence along the way (currently eighth after getting romped by the New York Knicks).
They scrap, they claw, and usually find ways to win. An identity is being established in real-time. Again, far removed from recent iterations heading into the deadline.
The 2025-26 squad’s 29-20 record to this point outranks each of the last four seasons, the last three of which saw them bottom 10 in the league for wins and win percentage, while sitting outside the top 10 on both ends of the floor. Situated squarely in the midst of mediocrity.
| SEASON | RECORD (RANK) | WIN% (RANK) | OFF RTG (RANK) | DEF RTG (RANK) |
| 2024-25 | 16-35 (26th) | .314 (26th) | 110.5 (24th) | 116.0 (27th) |
| 2023-24 | 18-33 (24th) | .353 (24th) | 114.5 (19th) | 117.7 (23rd) |
| 2022-23 | 26-30 (20th) | .464 (22nd) | 114.3 (11th) | 113.6 (17th) |
This year’s Raptors are even on track to outpace the 2021-22 squad (31-23 at the deadline) that went on to make the post-season — the team’s last playoff appearance. But unlike that group, which was ninth on offence and 13th on defence, the 2025-26 Raptors are a bit more one-sided. An elite defence to be sure, but currently ranked 21st on the other end, with glaring areas for improvement.
So their thought process heading into the deadline ought to be straightforward. Right? They know who they are and what they need. And the Eastern Conference appears ripe for the taking — Toronto’s just one game back of the No. 2-seeded Knicks, after all.
It’s clearly time to buy buy buy. It’s obvious. Isn’t it?
I’m not so sure it’s that simple.
Yes, the Raptors have positioned themselves well within the landscape of an otherwise uncertain East. Massively exceeding expectations, to be honest. And yes, there’s clearly a need for depth at centre, with continued concerns over the health of Jakob Poeltl. The guard rotation — and perimeter shooting — could use a boost as well. And even yes, general manager Bobby Webster said entering the season that a move was likely (with the team almost certainly looking to duck under the luxury tax line).
I’ll even admit that the palpable excitement surrounding the franchise and the potential outcomes of this season are very real, and with that feeling comes an opportunity to seize the moment.
Where I keep finding myself stumped, however, as I sift through hundreds of hypothetical trade scenarios — for all types of players, from superstar to ninth-man-in-the-rotation centres — is why would other teams agree to these deals? It varies from earnest wishcasting to expecting downright genie-in-a-bottle wizardry. Can we stop with the “I’ll give you my bad players for your good players” frameworks? (It’s been less cumbersome trudging through the snow with my dog than it has been these trade machine screenshots!)
The reality is that the Raptors are limited on movable assets with real value, even though they are very clearly looking to make upgrades. A.K.A. Rock meet hard place.
For all the reasons the Raptors would ship away Poeltl — declining health, increasing age and inflating contract — are the same factors other teams would want to avoid. There’s also Immanuel Quickley, who’d been on a tear recently, but likely won’t find many suitors with a negatively viewed $32.5 million annual price tag until 2029 and still without a large sample of consistent top-end production.
Even the glut of young wings currently in a logjam has but so much value as projects for other teams, given their collective track records.
As for the Raptors’ lone blue-chip youngster, Collin Murray-Boyles has positioned himself as such that he should only be moved if it’s for an upper-tier All-NBA player — like, say Giannis Antetokounmpo — and even then, it would be a TOUGH pill to swallow. And even he may not be enough, as recent reporting suggests the Bucks would want nothing short of a Scottie Barnes-level return in any deal for their superstar.
Well, what about RJ Barrett?
You mean the 25-year-old who has the team at 18-8 when he’s played this season. And is on the verge of playing his first playoff games for his hometown? And despite being a vital cog in the Raptors offence is still largely undervalued by the rest of the league?
Okay, fine, what about picks?
The Raptors control all seven of their own firsts between now and 2032 — the furthest out they can go before the off-season — and have six second-rounders as well.
I’m sure some of those could (and probably even should) be used in a deal, but let’s also consider it from the opposing perspective. Whether it’s a superstar or meaningful rotation piece, the better an addition for the Raptors, the less desirable those picks become. There’s a built-in assumption of declining value there (barring swaps), and that matters when trying to convince an opponent to accept a plethora of picks as the centre-piece alongside a salary dump in exchange for a rotation piece, for instance. (I’ll also admit I may just be scarred from the Raptors acquiring Thad Young for a first-round pick ordeal in 2022, hence why I’m less willing to deal away picks for a largely unproven — and financially top-heavy — roster.)
Ultimately, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. And I’m not sure who’ll want to dance hips-to-hips with the Raptors if they show up in board shorts and flip-flops.
All of which doesn’t even go into the part that even if Toronto is trying to pitch these less-than-stellar packages — which I’m sure it is — the chances of getting outbid are very real. That’s even if I’m well aware that lop-sided deals have gone down before. With the new CBA realities and how restrictive team building has become, it’s not worth banking on, especially while Nico Harrison is not currently an acting GM in the NBA.
Hence why I keep finding myself walking back down the path of patience, as unsexy as it may be. I’ve remained consistent on that viewpoint, previously writing about the value of embracing the mushy middle and how the Raptors of yesteryears bred success through that process.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way (and off my chest), I think an equally important point is that a real solution to most of the team’s current problems is already on the roster. Just ask head coach Darko Rajakovic.
“There’s one guy that I really, really like that I would like to join our team (at the deadline). His name is Jakob Poeltl. That guy can definitely help us,” the third-year bench boss said after practice on Tuesday.
Now I know the obvious retort is that there’s no telling when (if) the Austrian big man will rejoin the team this season. Poeltl has played in less than half of the Raptors’ games to this point, and in his 21 appearances, has not looked 100 per cent. There’s also been no update on the 30-year-old’s status after he saw a back specialist in Toronto last week, aside from him being back on the court sporadically, doing some non-contact work.
All of which is less than ideal. I won’t deny that. But what I will say is that the alarm bells don’t need to start sounding yet, either. Like they would have the last couple of seasons when Poeltl has gone down.
Could the Raptors use more depth at centre? Sure. I wouldn’t even mind a swap of, say, Ochai Agbaji and a couple of seconds for a Yves Missi-type if that were possible. But Toronto is by no means sinking while Poeltl remains sidelined. In fact, the Raptors have played to a 49-win pace without their starting centre, largely thanks to a do-it-by-committee showing from the likes of Barnes, Murray-Boyles, Sandro Mamukelasvhili and even Jonathan Mogbo in very limited spot minutes.
I won’t go as far as to say that effort has turned a need into a want, but there really shouldn’t be so much desperation that the team makes an ill-advised deal to fill that 7-foot hole in the lineup. We all know the repercussions of the last deal the Raptors made in haste to try to sort out the centre spot in 2023.
And as far as Poelt’s ongoing health goes, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, I say.
Could his lingering back issues bite the Raptors in the post-season? Possibly. But Rajakovic has gotten his team to adapt well, and knows exactly what they have in the big man when he is healthy. So while realistic trade partners remain limited, it seems more viable to see things through with Poeltl than not.
Another consideration is that, as much as a depth addition could alleviate some of the issues at hand, none will likely approach Poeltl’s true value when healthy. Even a hindered version still made things easier for those around him. While not the typical shot-making release valve under the basket or in the short-roll, Poeltl was (and still is) an elite screen setter in the NBA. And that eases the lives of two very important Raptors.
While Barnes routinely finds ways to impact the game on both ends, even when his shot isn’t falling, and Barrett has learned to scale down by doing more with less, Quickley and Brandon Ingram still provide their most value by putting balls through the net.
And both are more efficient and productive when sharing the floor with Poeltl, who’s been able to free them up in a pinch with his bruising screens — which’ll ultimately matter much more come the post-season than whether or not a backup big man can plug in for 15 minutes.
Ingram specifically has felt the absence of a real screening threat of late as he’s faced more and more defensive attention. A situation Rajakovic even acknowledged falls as much on the other guys as it does on the slithery bucket-getter.
“We as a team got to do a better job of setting some screens and getting those primary defenders off of Brandon, so he can playmake, so he can get to his spots on the floor, and make the right decisions for the team.”
And there aren’t many options better than a healthy Poeltl in that regard. His 3.9 screen-assists per game are tied for fourth-most in the NBA (with Domantas Sabonis, who the Raptors have been linked to) and unsurprisingly twice as many as any other Raptor. And despite missing 28 games, he’s still first on the team with 82 total screen assists, 21 more than Mamukelashvili in second, and sits 33rd in the NBA overall.
None of which even goes into his value on the glass or as a rim deterrent defensively.
Even if the Raptors did find a serviceable backup, it’s hard to see that kind of production being approximated. And if the idea is to ship away Poeltl for a replacement, good luck doing it at any sort of reasonable cost, given the long-term money he’s owed. (Which is somewhat interesting, because advanced metric models view Poeltl’s contract as positive even after his extension kicks in, but good luck convincing another team of that in reference to a hobbled 30-year-old.)
So sure, there are moves to be made. But I doubt many within the realm of practicality will impact the Raptors as much as the guys already in the room will.
And as for patience, by no means does it need to be endless. But at the very least, I think it should extend till the end of the upcoming playoffs since this is truly Year 1 of the Raptors’ return to competitive relevancy. So I’m not sure there needs to be haste in reaching the mountain top — there’s nothing wrong with a steady ascent, at least so early in the process. After this group has gotten a taste of high-stakes basketball together, then some tougher conversations can surely be had.
Which could be a more opportune time to make moves, anyway?
Despite recent buzz around Antetokounmpo’s outlook, it still seems like the situation would be better served playing out in the summer for both player and franchise. The 31-year-old mega star would be that much closer to potential free agency (holding a $62.8-million player option for 2027-28), giving him even more leverage to manoeuvre where he ends up. And for the Bucks, waiting till the off-season opens up the chances of an even greater return as more picks and expiring salaries get unlocked around the league. (And aside from being able to trade assets one more year down the line, pursuing teams could also throw in post-draft “picks” to get around the Stepien rule).
Even beyond the Greek Freak, there are other situations to monitor that could reach tipping points after the playoffs. There’s the very expensive Cleveland Cavaliers, who’ve largely disappointed thus far, albeit picking up some steam of late. The backcourt pairing of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell will undoubtedly be on the hot seat if they can’t get past the East semis yet again. Or there’s Karl-Anthony Towns in the Big Apple. If the Knicks fizzle out in the playoffs, he could easily be singled out as the one to move on from.
On the flip side, what the Raptors have to offer gets better in the summer as well. Picks aside, Quickley’s flat AAV only looks better relative to a rising salary cap in future seasons — dropping below 20 per cent after 2026. Meanwhile, Barrett officially becomes an expiring salary in 2026-27. So, if he flounders in the playoffs, it would be easier to move his contract either in the summer or next deadline, should the relationship reach that point. Moving on from the Mississauga, Ont. native with one year left on his deal versus 1.5 years is hardly going to make much of a difference on the open market, so the Raptors needn’t try to ship him out immediately. At least not before some meaningful hoops.
I know that was a lot, and here’s hoping some of it made sense.
We’ll know what Webster and the Raptors decided in just a few short days, and whether they viewed their situation similarly to me — patience over potential — or the possibility of a ceiling-raising move was just too great to pass up.
I guess that’s the beauty of this time of year. So much yet so little is known, and we’re all left hopemaxxing (can Gen Alpha’s tell me if I used that right?) along the way.
Answers will come soon enough. And in the meantime, at least it’s much nicer to ponder while taking in quality basketball. That hasn’t been the case for a while. Let’s enjoy it.
“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” — Margaret Drabble
The post Why Jakob Poeltl should be Raptors’ trade deadline acquisition first appeared on Raptors Republic.