Within the cogs of the Transaction Industrial Complex, no stretch of good or bad play can go by without The Discourse™ at large posing the question: what does this mean for his trade value? It’s very Cool and Good, and not the slightest bit a symptom of the brain worm epidemic.
It’s especially intense when a guy is a small market star, is on an expiring deal, is a Laker or someone Lakers fans want to be a Laker, or, as in the case of Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl, is a starter on a bad team in the midst of the best week of his life.
I can read the tea leaves. I know how this fan base operates, and I’m well aware how wide draft pick obsession has spread. Poeltl’s name is gonna come up in trade noise of all pitches from now ‘til February, from legit reporting to amateur trade machining-turned-content. Tank-heads will champion it. And I’m here to implore those keen on flipping the Raptors’ starting center to stop and really think about that for a second.
What do you, the fan, want for this team? Do you, like the salary cap sheet suggests you should, think next year is go time for this core? Surely you don’t want another year counting lotto balls more closely than wins. And you definitely don’t wanna see the stagnation of the many early-twenty somethings at various stages of largely encouraging development arcs, right?
If you agree with all these things, then you, my friend, want Jakob Poeltl on this basketball team.
“But Sean! This team needs more picks!” my deluded online pals will say.
Do they? They’ve got five rookies fresh in the hopper, a handful of them already promising. A high pick in a supposedly thrilling draft class awaits them June, along with the Blazers second-rounder, which will be a good one. Beyond that, they have all their own picks in the cupboard, and the Pacers’ first in 2026. Have you watched the Pacers? That might be a pick. Count ‘em, nine prospects from just three draft cycles. Roster spots ain’t infinite. Draft picks have diminishing returns as a young roster gets younger by the year. Having adults who help lift up the youth, though? That’s a long-term investment worth making.
It would take one hell of a package to make up for the on-court value you’d be losing in a Poeltl trade. And that’s where this discussion probably ends. There aren’t a lot of teams out there with the combination of need and financial wiggle room to get a true bidding war going. Sure, all it takes is one team to feel desperate and frivolous, but even if a contender does get itchy, they won’t be sending you back a ready-made succession plan for Poeltl. That’s the deal-breaker.
If the spunky start to this season has taught us anything, it’s that the Raptors have got some dudes. Dudes who, if healthy and given a little time to marinate, could be ready to do real stuff, real soon. Shipping Poeltl out for hypotheticals now would be like slashing your own tire before a road trip.
Poeltl is this team’s baseline, the support beam that holds up the house. He’s also just a damn good fit. RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley make sweet pick and roll music with him, while he and Barnes tag-team rim protection better than most. Poeltl screens are gonna help make Gradey Dick a lot of money. Toronto should be thinking extension with their drink-stirrer way before thinking trade.
Maybe the perfect Poeltl offer does fall into the Raptors’ laps, a deal that bolsters their long-term position while bringing back a big ready to fill Jak’s shoes. It could happen. But in the reality of a cash-strapped, center-rich NBA, it’s a crazy longshot. And that’s fine, because Jakob Poeltl rules, and the Raptors are far better off with him than without.
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On today’s podcast, Locked On’s national newsletter editor Katie Heindl joined me to play a round of one of our favourite parlour games: What’s More Likely?! Three extreme either/or questions about the Raptors, all kinds of fun. Enjoy the show!
