{"id":119734,"date":"2025-01-23T12:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=119734"},"modified":"2025-01-23T12:23:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T17:23:09","slug":"toronto-raptors-extremely-reluctant-trade-jakob-poeltl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/23\/toronto-raptors-extremely-reluctant-trade-jakob-poeltl\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors ‘Extremely Reluctant’ to Trade This Veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors<\/a> currently rank as one of the worst teams in the NBA a couple of weeks ahead of the trade deadline. They are 11-32, which is second-worst in the Eastern Conference, and rank in the bottom 10 on offense and defense. Naturally, they have appeared in trade rumors quite often this season. The most likely trade candidates are Bruce Brown (<\/a>who is also a buyout candidate<\/a>)<\/a>, Kelly Olynyk<\/a>, and Chris Boucher<\/a>. In theory, everybody on the roster besides Scottie Barnes<\/a> is a potential trade candidate. However, according to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg<\/a>, there is one specific player the Raptors may want to keep amidst rumors–Jakob Poeltl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lewenberg mentions that, while it could be a major move, the Raptors are “extremely reluctant” to trade Poeltl.<\/p>\n

“The biggest deal they could reasonable make \u2013 trading centre Jakob Poeltl \u2013 is one that, according to multiple league sources, they\u2019ve been extremely reluctant to consider. The 29-year-old is having a career year, averaging a personal-best 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds on 61 per cent shooting, and would surely have a market if he were to be made available.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, Lewenberg does write that a lot can change from now until the deadline. Still, barring some major changes, it seems likely that the Raptors will keep the 29-year-old rostered.<\/p>\n

“However, assuming the club adds another top draft pick over the summer and is ready to make a leap next season, they see Poeltl as the type of veteran big man who can help them get there. Maybe a contending team loses its starting centre to injury and makes a big offer between now and the deadline, but at least for now, the sense is that Poeltl will remain in Toronto.”<\/p>\n

Toronto Raptors ‘Extremely Reluctant’ to Trade Jakob Poeltl<\/h2>\n

Jakob Poeltl’s Season Up to This Point<\/h3>\n

Though there is not a lot going right in Toronto this season, Poeltl is in the midst of a career year. Through 38 games, he is averaging 14.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks. He is also shooting 61.2% from the field. Earlier in the season, Poetltl spoke about his season, saying “it feels nice.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, yeah, it feels nice. It\u2019s a little bit of throwback to college times, I guess. I\u2019ve always said this and I\u2019ve always prided myself on looking for my opportunities and playing winning basketball, whatever role that may be,” Poeltl said.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of basketball remaining, but Poeltl has put together an impressive season so far.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/h3>\n

Given how well he has played this season, it could make sense for the Raptors to keep Poeltl around if they think they can contend in the near future. Poeltl still has two years left on his contract, including a $19.5 million player option for the 2026-27 season. While the Raptors are near the bottom of the standings, there is a lot to like about their roster. If the Raptors get a deal they cannot refuse, selling high on Poeltl would make sense. However, if not, keeping him on the team could pay dividends now and in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors currently rank as one of the worst teams in the NBA a couple of weeks ahead of the trade deadline. They are 11-32, which is second-worst in the Eastern Conference, and rank in the bottom 10 on offense and defense. Naturally, they have appeared in trade rumors quite often this season. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":100498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,62,3,14,4721],"tags":[968],"class_list":["post-119734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","category-raptors","category-trade-rumors","tag-jakob-poeltl"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119750,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119734\/revisions\/119750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}