The Toronto Raptors have gone through major changes this season.
They team traded O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam to officially enter a rebuild around Scottie Barnes.
It is clear that the Raptors are in a youth movement as their main core players are all under 25-years-old.
This is a major pivot from what the Raptors were thinking last season when they decided to go for it by trading for veteran center Jakob Poeltl. They doubled down on the move when they re-signed Poeltl to an extension this past offseason.
Toronto brought in another veteran big man at this year’s trade deadline in Kelly Olynyk.
The Raptors are expected to re-sign Olynyk this summer. Olynyk has been a nice fit with the Raptors so far and his ability to space the floor is exactly what the Raptors need.
There is no need for two veteran big men on a rebuilding team. Therefore, Poeltl could be traded at some point.
Bleacher Report recently put out an article predicting the next wave of NBA players who could hit the trade block this offseason and they mentioned Poeltl:
“Poeltl has two guaranteed years remaining on his contract at $19.5 million per season and carries a $19.5 million player option in 2026-27, so his deal should be fairly easy to move. A huge target in the middle who excels at rebounding and is a talented passer and defender, Poeltl is still a starting-caliber center who does almost everything well except space the floor. With the Raptors resetting the roster, Poeltl could be the next to go.”
For now Poeltl remains a Raptor as the team looks to potentially make a play-in push.
Raptors could trade Poeltl
There are a lot of contending teams that could use Poeltl’s skill set so it will be interesting to see if his name pops up on the rumor mill this summer.
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