Lot of doubters when it happened but was and is the C we had been needing for so long.

27 comments
  1. Our center position was a hot mess before the trade lmao. Either we tried making it work with some respectfully “low tier” options, or tried asking ourselves if Siakam could fill the gap.

  2. Both of these things are true: Jakob Poeltl is a very good basketball player and the Spurs traded him for less than he’s worth and The Raptors should not have traded for Jakob Poeltl based off where the team was heading.

  3. By my count right now the trade is at:

    Raptors get:
    – Jakob Poeltl

    Spurs get:
    – Khem Birch
    – Rob Dillingham (traded to Wolves for 2030 pick swap + 2031 FRP)
    – Juan Nunez
    – Raptors 2025 second round pick

  4. I’ve been team Poeltl and eating the negative karma, but if you watch every Raps game every year, they needed a top ten C and got one that has a love for Toronto and youth, because the gap after Gasol and Ibaka was deep. Tampa Craptors anyone?

  5. There’s so many ifs it’s hard to even determine. Sure we could’ve never been buyers and tanked, but what if we get the 3rd pick? Scoot was consensus top 3 by everyone and he’s a bust. I’d currently rather have gradey then him tbh

  6. Yak is a good starting center. My gripe has always been I don’t see him aligning with our timeline/window unless we’re in win now mode, which I didn’t see us as a win now team. Maybe after injuries we can be…

  7. Jak was never a bad player. It was the timing of the trade that made no sense. Ujiri still thought they were going to re-sign FVV and make a run with the same group. Then when he left he tried to scramble and bring in Schröder who had exactly zero chemistry/pick and roll game. It blew up spectacularly into a rebuild 9 months after the trade.

    Of course he still has Jak and that’s fine. No one thinks Jak is a bad player. No one did.

    What people didn’t understand was trading a draft pick for a 30+ year old when the team _should_ have been rebuilding.

    Even now, the Raps are 3-12. So what’s the point or having a good Poeltl? By the time the Raps are any good, he will be gone or declining. And as good as you think he is, he isn’t going to bring back a haul if you trade him. If anything maybe you get a pick back and some filler salary. So you potentially just shuffled your draft pick out a few year.

    Painting the move as genius now ignores the fact it was done with a completely different outcome in mind, and that while he may be good, he hasn’t gained value, and he doesn’t really fit the timeline.

  8. The problem with the trade wasn’t Jak, it was “going for it” during a season where were clearly ass

  9. Value wise it’s always not bad. The timing is bad though. They should have tanked that year for Wemby.

  10. I get that in hindsight, we should have blown it up for Wemby.

    But that’s hindsight. 20/20 vision and all that. In reality we had just come off a 47 win season and were scuffling along with 2 all stars, a DPOY candidate, the ROY, and past COY. To look at that and say “this team could use a center, they can be good” was not in fact a crazy thought.

    Where Masai and Bobby went wrong is not having an accurate temperature of the team. Not knowing that FVV would bolt (or that Houston would give him that offer). Not realizing that Fred and the vets were not really happy ceding any control to Scottie and that Nurse would check out mentally as well. That the vibes were so bad the team would choke a play in game at the FT line in epic fashion.

    So in hindsight, after the playoffs loss to Philly, sure, the Raptors should have blown it up and traded FVV, Pascal and OG. But apart from the lunatics who want to tear down the team the second they lose 2 in a row, not many would make that same decision.

  11. I dont think you can ever conclusively say the Poeltl trade was good, even if he exceeds the value of what we gave up, because without we could have been on a course that led to Wemby.

    I think it was bad process, but what’s done is done, and hopefully Poeltl can continue his great play

  12. Center and PG are important position because your wings can’t learn good offense or defence without them

    I was a Yak defender in the past but I’ve actually come over to the side that it was an overpay but I don’t think it’s the grave mistake that the overpay folks are complaining about

    Like I’d say it was an overpay by about 10-20% but do you overpay that much to see if Siakam and FVV and OG could pull it together and do right by them? Ya I think so. And do you also do the overpay just for vibes and having some semblance of a floor? Also yes

    Could Masai have bargained harder or tried for another center that was more appropriately priced? Maybe but I’d rather get something done

  13. The trade was always fine it was the timing and the weird top 6 protection. Masai was a year late moving on from that era of the raps and we would’ve been in a tough spot had the pick not conveyed and we didn’t have our first this year

  14. I didn’t like the trade initially, now I hope we won’t trade him again. No need to send him away, we’re like a year or 2 away from being very competitive again. He won’t be wasted here.

  15. Trade itself was very good, it just came at a bad time that’s all. But it’s starting to work out for us now… giving up the pick last year, and keeping it for this year, will be very helpful

  16. I stand on this. I was never against Poeltl. I was more against the protections of those picks.

  17. Two things can be true…

    Yak for a FRP is a good trade, no matter how you slice it.

    It was a bad trade at the time because it didn’t produce the outcome that was desired.

  18. I think ppl just couldn’t believe we were trading for a piece we traded away. C was a bad spot for a few years and now we’ve cemented Jak for the future and he’s exactly what we needed. 

  19. Jakob has been playing out of his mind. Hats off to him, couldn’t be happier about how he’s played.

    But id still rather have two more prospects to develop, even if it means we are 0-15 instead of 3-12.

    I am happy about how much he’s going to help the team win next season if we can stay healthy though

  20. We got a great and servicable two way center for under 20 mil a year who abs wants to stay and grow here cuz he considers it home. Of all the bad fan takes over the years the hot takes on this guy and this move have been my least favourite. Can we not follow the path of Sam Presti and Pat Reilly? Every move is not a move to win. Every move we get back more than we give. Every move we make returns value on the dollar. I swear 90% of the people with these shitty Jak takes are the people who thought they were just getting the guy who left back instead of a Pop/Duncan trained upgrade.

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