The Toronto Raptors know the ultimate goal in the NBA is to win a championship and to do that, you have to win a lot of games and be a competitive team. There are some teams that are in a developmental process, which means growing young talent in the hopes of them blossoming and getting to the point of winning a lot of games. In that instance, there isn't a lot of winning at the beginning, but teams don't let their fans know that.
During Raptors Media Day, veteran center Jakob Poeltl had an interesting quote about what direction the team is going in this season, and it left some people shocked.
“I think we all know we’re not going to go and attack the championship this year,” Poetlt said. “It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development.”
Even though Poeltl may have been being honest, teams don't usually come out and let the fans know that they're not trying to win.
Many people on X, formerly Twitter, had some things to say about Poeltl's comments, and they weren't all positive.
“He getting shipped out anyway i’m not trippin,” one user said.
“Jakob dude you’re not supposed to say that part out loud,” another user said.
“I love pure honesty and am a raptors fan but man i aint wanna hear that s–t jakob let that one go,” another user said.
How will the Raptors perform this year?
There's no doubt that the Raptors are trying to head into a new direction with their team after what they did last season. They traded away some of their best players, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, and in return got some young talent. Scottie Barnes is now the leader of the team, and he has complimentary pieces like RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickly, and others to help him.
“Just trying to step into that next role of growing into that leader. You gotta just take steps and I feel like I’ve been taking the right steps this summer,” Barnes said. “I’m usually accustomed to being that leader by example. I go out there and play hard.”
The Raptors aren't expected to be a top team this season, but they do have an exciting roster that looks like they'll be competing every night. The most important thing is seeing how the young players develop over the course of the season, which will be a step in the right direction for the future of the team.
Follow Us
Subscribe
