Raptors player who should lose minutes

It is becoming clearer with each passing game that the Toronto Raptors, currently at 12th in the Eastern Conference, need to finally embrace a rebuild. Scottie Barnes is in the midst of a breakout campaign and is already looking like the guy Masai Ujiri needs to build around. With that, Toronto has found itself in the heat of trade rumors, especially concerning their two veterans Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.

But it seems like Ujiri will cross that bridge when he needs to, perhaps closer to the trade deadline. Until then, the Raptors must make changes internally to avoid further falling in the standings. Toronto wouldn't ideally want to fully tank because the 2024 first-round pick it traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Jakob Poeltl is top-six protected.

As difficult as it is to swallow, that move made no sense for the Raptors. And they even doubled down on it by giving Poeltl a four-year $78 million deal this summer.

Frustrations are mounting after the Raptors suffered a major collapse at home to Utah during the weekend, where a 41-21 fourth quarter by the Jazz led to a 126-119 loss for Toronto. The Raptors could only do so much internally, since they do not simply have Steph Curry on the bench, as coach Darko Rajakovic said. Nonetheless, Rajakovic should consider giving less minutes to Jakob Poeltl.

Raptors player who should lose minutes: Jakob Poeltl

For a team that's been devoid of a big man in the middle the last few seasons, the Raptors felt like they needed to address their lack of size. And Jakob Poeltl was their guy at last year's deadline. Given he played the first couple of years of his career in Toronto, his arrival provided Raptors fans a fuzzy feeling of nostalgia for about two minutes. Players like Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby were elated to have their former contemporary back inside their locker room.

However, as the dust settled in, it became clear that trading for Poeltl, and more so, locking him up for $19 million a season over the next four years was a move in the wrong direction.

Basketball-wise, sure, he gave the Raptors that interior presence they've long wanted — a desire brought about by the spanking that Philadelphia 76ers gave them in the 2022 NBA playoffs. However, given the way the Raptors season was going last year, that wasn't the move they needed to make. The Raptors had no business being buyers at the deadline. They should have sold and cashed in on Fred VanVleet

Likewise, his presence has only worsened the already bad floor spacing in Toronto. The Raptors have regressively become one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA over the last few seasons. In terms of three-point percentage, they went from 20th (34.9 percent) in 2021-22 to 28th (33.5 percent) in 2022-23. This season, they're shooting just 33.9 percent, the fourth-worst mark in the NBA.

Currently, Jakob Poeltl is averaging 26.0 minutes, which is fifth on the Raptors this season. Head coach Darko Rajakovic should really consider bringing down those minutes more in favor of Gary Trent Jr., who has assumed a full-time sixth man role.

The starting lineup, of Dennis Schroder, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Jakob Poeltl is one of the worst in the NBA. Per NBA.com, that five-man unit has the third-worst net rating (-2.8) and the second-worst offensive rating (111.2) among lineups that have played at least 150 minutes.

A lot of that has to do with the lack of spacing in the first five. Almost all Raptors starters are either average-to-below-average three-point shooters. Jakob Poeltl is not a threat at all.

As currently constructed, this Raptors roster isn't optimized to maximize Barnes' strengths. For a player with his playmaking chops and ability to get to the basket, Toronto needs to surround Barnes with more shooting. As much as he has improved this season (38.1 percent), he can't be the best three-point shooter on this team.

The Raptors need floor spacers to operate inside the lane and have snipers on the perimeter he can kick out the ball out to. However, committing to Barnes as the full-time lead guard isn't ideal either. He still isn't adept at bringing the ball down the court. Teams still opt to pressure him full court whenever he is out there without a true PG. As such, he still needs a guy like Dennis Schroder who can be the primary table-setter.

If Schroder isn't moving to the bench, Poeltl must be the move.

The Raptors are much better on the floor with the same lineup, but with Trent in there instead of Poeltl. Trent's presence gives everyone more space to operate and his three-point shooting adds a different dimension to their offense. Though it's a small 41-minute sample size, that unit has a net rating of +22.8 and an offensive rating of 130.4.

Given their offensive woes, it makes sense for the Raptors to log more minutes for Trent or any other player who can help space the floor for Toronto.