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The Toronto Raptors are one of the teams in the running for a top lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. They are currently 20-42 and have the fifth worst record in the NBA. Depending on how the rest of the season goes, the Raptors might need a little lottery luck if they want the top pick. While the Raptors did swing a trade for Brandon Ingram, they are still essentially tanking, something that starting center Jakob Poeltl has actually spoken openly about.
Following the Raptors’ 114-113 win against the Orlando Magic, Jakob Poeltl once again was 100 percent honest regarding the team’s tanking efforts this season, as per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
“Yes, it is weird to watch, but because I already know that – because of the minutes restriction – I wasn’t going to be playing at the end of the game,” Poeltl said. “I guess it almost feels like – it sounds weird – but it doesn’t feel as real to me because, basically, my game has already ended.”
“I don’t know, that sounds weird, but obviously we want to do better with me on the court, or not, we we want to be closing out these games. . .but putting ourselves in these positions over and over again we can really learn from it and hopefully improve.” Poeltl continued.
While Poeltl is the team’s starting center, the Raptors have opted for development and giving minutes to the younger players late in games. Backup big man Orlando Robinson has played more minutes than Poeltl has in the second halves of the Raptors’ recent games.
Jakob Poeltl’s future with Raptors
Even with the Raptors in rebuilding mode, it appears as if Poeltl still has a place on the team’s roster moving forward. The trade for Ingram is a good indicator that the team expects to be competitive in the Eastern Conference next season.
Ingram has yet to play a game for the Raptors as he’s dealing with an ankle injury. Ingram did sign a contract extension though almost immediately after the trade.
As far as Poeltl’s future, the team made clear their position on him when they rejected trade offers for him at the deadline. He’s under contract for the 2025-26 season, and has a player option for the 2026-27 season. He hopes that he can remain with the team that drafted him with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
“I haven’t given [my contract] any thought, like, those conversations are gonna start coming once the season ends, and I’m assuming pretty quickly after the season ends,” Poeltl said. “I’ve bought into this process and I’ve kind of gone through the tough times already. So, this is my home right now and I really hope it’s gonna be in the future as well.”
This season, Poeltl has been averaging a career-high 14.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocked shots with splits of 61.2 percent shooting from the field and 67.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
