[SHAMS/WOJ] Spurs trade Jakob Poeltl to the Raptors for Khem Birch, ‘24 1st and 2 2nds…

[Meeksology]

I’d definitely say we pivoted to tank during the Tampa season.

Insanity/Bi-polarity of being a Raptors fan

Truly the worst fanbase on realgm and it's not even particularly close. It never ceases to astound me how pretty much every move Ujiri makes is lambasted by 3/4 of the people posting on that forum as if they somehow know better when the guy has managed a team that's won a championship and missed the playoffs once (during Covid playing in Tampa) in the time he's been here.

I havent been active on our board for more than a few years now (last time was prolly 2016?) for this reason. I did a quick pass thru today after the deadline just to gauge the temp on the board and man, nothing has changed.

[Quattro]

Insanity/Bi-polarity of being a Raptors fan

Truly the worst fanbase on realgm and it's not even particularly close. It never ceases to astound me how pretty much every move Ujiri makes is lambasted by 3/4 of the people posting on that forum as if they somehow know better when the guy has managed a team that's won a championship and missed the playoffs once (during Covid playing in Tampa) in the time he's been here.

I havent been active on our board for more than a few years now (last time was prolly 2016?) for this reason. I did a quick pass thru today after the deadline just to gauge the temp on the board and man, nothing has changed.

I think I literally have half of the regular posters on that board on ignore.

[Meeksology]

Truly the worst fanbase on realgm and it's not even particularly close. It never ceases to astound me how pretty much every move Ujiri makes is lambasted by 3/4 of the people posting on that forum as if they somehow know better when the guy has managed a team that's won a championship and missed the playoffs once (during Covid playing in Tampa) in the time he's been here.

I havent been active on our board for more than a few years now (last time was prolly 2016?) for this reason. I did a quick pass thru today after the deadline just to gauge the temp on the board and man, nothing has changed.

I think I literally have half of the regular posters on that board on ignore.

LMAO

[celticfan42487]

Williams never plays anyway. I would worry about that if I were you and not what players were shooting from the line 3 seasons ago. Again, have a nice day. Goodbye.

He played 15 playoff games as a starter last year. Which is double Poetls entire career's gross total.

So I'll try to be concerned about it.

Part of the reason he plays and starts in the playoffs, is because for 3 straight years he's proven he can shoot FTs and be one of the best defensive players in the league on a level Poetl will never ever come close to even thinking about let alone playing like.

I'm sorry you've taken it so hard that I refuse to point out obvious ways Poetl wouldn't be the best Center on the Celtics as you claimed or just disregard facts or thought or logic to fit that narrative.

If it's any help I am being kind because as I also generously said he was maybe a wash with Horford and I've let you keep that subject closed for your piece of mind but we could break down who is the better player between him and Al Horford right now, and you might find he'd actually be considered the 3rd best Center on the Celtics roster today.

I said that I have no interest in this conversation. Stop sending me messages.

Feel free to stop responding. That's something you're allowed to do on RealGM.

[Ckay]

Truly the worst fanbase on realgm and it's not even particularly close. It never ceases to astound me how pretty much every move Ujiri makes is lambasted by 3/4 of the people posting on that forum as if they somehow know better when the guy has managed a team that's won a championship and missed the playoffs once (during Covid playing in Tampa) in the time he's been here.

I havent been active on our board for more than a few years now (last time was prolly 2016?) for this reason. I did a quick pass thru today after the deadline just to gauge the temp on the board and man, nothing has changed.

I think I literally have half of the regular posters on that board on ignore.

Can you ss your ignore list? Lol

[celticfan42487]

I was kinda surprised we got as many picks. Poeltl has been skeaky awful on the defensive side of the ball if you look at the numbers.

Nah he'll be a terrific defender. With us there were just too many things to clean up on too many plays. There's only so much one player can do as the final backstop.

He's a nimble enough mover to guard the perimeter and stay with drivers but he's best as facilitator, rim protector, and high IQ to do a lot of small things that don't show up on the stat sheet (and others that do) that make a positive impact.

I guess the thinking is, how much higher is his ceiling as a traditional C? Have we maximized his development? If the best version of him is, say, slightly better than the current version but still not a floor stretching big, is that worth $20M or $17M/yr?

Worth is an interesting question when you factor in intangibles like IQ and locker room presence and these have value relative to team needs at a given time. Long term, we could not afford to not maximize assets for Jakob given our clear direction so given our needs we made our well. So did TO, and so did Jakob.

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

[CanadianBacon15]

He played 15 playoff games as a starter last year. Which is double Poetls entire career's gross total.

So I'll try to be concerned about it.

Part of the reason he plays and starts in the playoffs, is because for 3 straight years he's proven he can shoot FTs and be one of the best defensive players in the league on a level Poetl will never ever come close to even thinking about let alone playing like.

I'm sorry you've taken it so hard that I refuse to point out obvious ways Poetl wouldn't be the best Center on the Celtics as you claimed or just disregard facts or thought or logic to fit that narrative.

If it's any help I am being kind because as I also generously said he was maybe a wash with Horford and I've let you keep that subject closed for your piece of mind but we could break down who is the better player between him and Al Horford right now, and you might find he'd actually be considered the 3rd best Center on the Celtics roster today.

I said that I have no interest in this conversation. Stop sending me messages.

Feel free to stop responding. That's something you're allowed to do on RealGM.

Celtics fans are the worst. Immature. Have a nice day sir.

[realball]

While it's disappointing that we didn't rebuild, it's not like we lost on value in this trade or something. We dumped Birch's contract for a starting level player who fills our biggest need.

Why are people acting like we won't have options in the off-season? We can still trade Pascal and OG to start our rebuild. We can still sign-and-trade FVV and Trent, neither of whom would gotten anything for us this deadline. Now we even have Poetl who could bring us back something eventually. And if they all leave and we're bad next season we more than likely keep our pick.

The choice was between making a run for the playoffs and potentially failing and getting a low-end lottery pick... or just ripping apart our roster now and getting a mid-lottery pick. We have the easiest schedule in the league moving forward, obviously you pick the first option. If we fail, we can rebuild in the off-season.

[celticfan42487]

I said that I have no interest in this conversation. Stop sending me messages.

Feel free to stop responding. That's something you're allowed to do on RealGM.

Celtics fans are the worst. Immature. Have a nice day sir.

Sounds great. Glad I could inform you who Robert Williams was today. He's on a team in your division even so it might come up in the future!

[celticfan42487]

While it's disappointing that we didn't rebuild, it's not like we lost on value in this trade or something. We dumped Birch's contract for a starting level player who fills our biggest need.

Why are people acting like we won't have options in the off-season? We can still trade Pascal and OG to start our rebuild. We can still sign-and-trade FVV and Trent, neither of whom would gotten anything for us this deadline. Now we even have Poetl who could bring us back something eventually. And if they all leave and we're bad next season we more than likely keep our pick.

The choice was between making a run for the playoffs and potentially failing and getting a low-end lottery pick... or just ripping apart our roster now and getting a mid-lottery pick. We have the easiest schedule in the league moving forward, obviously you pick the first option. If we fail, we can rebuild in the off-season.

I think it's more people were hoping if you rebuild you get lucky and keep your lottery tickets to get another Barnes on the roster if possible.

So if you don't think you have a way forward you keep your own picks if you can instead of give those away. And try to collect more lottery tickets basically.

While the Raptors didn't pay a high price it does seem just like an illogical move. For an asset that shouldn't appreciate in value when signed to a huge contract in the off season.

You just kind of view guys like Poetl or FVV or Gary Trent as someone that a team looks at and says we're in win now mode and we're willing to overpay market value to keep them as they mean more to us than any other team as critical depth pieces we're going into the luxury tax for as contenders... that's the kind of teams that would value them and should be trading for them.

So desperate teams like the Lakers or potentially still the Mavs. Hell the Nuggets may not have been a bad choice to trade for one of them either. Not teams that could next season turn on the Tank World Order music.

If that's the case, then why even TEMPT fate and potentially lose a top 10 pick for losing in 7 games instead of 5 in the second round this year?

[realball]

While it's disappointing that we didn't rebuild, it's not like we lost on value in this trade or something. We dumped Birch's contract for a starting level player who fills our biggest need.

Why are people acting like we won't have options in the off-season? We can still trade Pascal and OG to start our rebuild. We can still sign-and-trade FVV and Trent, neither of whom would gotten anything for us this deadline. Now we even have Poetl who could bring us back something eventually. And if they all leave and we're bad next season we more than likely keep our pick.

The choice was between making a run for the playoffs and potentially failing and getting a low-end lottery pick... or just ripping apart our roster now and getting a mid-lottery pick. We have the easiest schedule in the league moving forward, obviously you pick the first option. If we fail, we can rebuild in the off-season.

I think it's more people were hoping if you rebuild you get lucky and keep your lottery tickets to get another Barnes on the roster if possible.

So if you don't think you have a way forward you keep your own picks if you can instead of give those away. And try to collect more lottery tickets basically.

While the Raptors didn't pay a high price it does seem just like an illogical move. For an asset that shouldn't appreciate in value when signed to a huge contract in the off season.

You just kind of view guys like Poetl or FVV or Gary Trent as someone that a team looks at and says we're in win now mode and we're willing to overpay market value to keep them as they mean more to us than any other team as critical depth pieces we're going into the luxury tax for as contenders... that's the kind of teams that would value them and should be trading for them.

So desperate teams like the Lakers or potentially still the Mavs. Not teams that could next season turn on the Tank World Order music.

If that's the case, then why even TEMPT fate and potentially lose a top 10 pick for losing in 7 games instead of 5 in the second round this year?

We didn't trade a pick this year, it's next year. If we're going to tank, then our pick will more than likely be safely within the the top 6.

No one was willing to overpay for Trent or FVV, they don't have that kind of value around the league. We value them as starting level players, who else does? What exactly are we missing out on if they walk out on us in the off-season? Look at the offers that were put up for FVV... Kennard and Covington. Bamba and Ross. Might as well let him walk after a half-season of good service.

[G R E Y]

I was kinda surprised we got as many picks. Poeltl has been skeaky awful on the defensive side of the ball if you look at the numbers.

Nah he'll be a terrific defender. With us there were just too many things to clean up on too many plays. There's only so much one player can do as the final backstop.

He's a nimble enough mover to guard the perimeter and stay with drivers but he's best as facilitator, rim protector, and high IQ to do a lot of small things that don't show up on the stat sheet (and others that do) that make a positive impact.

I guess the thinking is, how much higher is his ceiling as a traditional C? Have we maximized his development? If the best version of him is, say, slightly better than the current version but still not a floor stretching big, is that worth $20M or $17M/yr?

Worth is an interesting question when you factor in intangibles like IQ and locker room presence and these have value relative to team needs at a given time. Long term, we could not afford to not maximize assets for Jakob given our clear direction so given our needs we made our well. So did TO, and so did Jakob.

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

Not sure how well they move off-ball, but Jakob is a very good facilitator, a cog up high or at the elbows for DHOs, high low passes, bounce passes to back door cutters, faking passes for drives, floaters. He is terrific in keeping the ball moving and they should consider exploiting that in mining more of a half court game. He runs the floor very well in transition, too. It'll stand out how much better he is than when he was there before. He's matured as a man and his game has grown. And being a plug and play player who doesn't need the ball and makes others better is valuable.

[celticfan42487]

While it's disappointing that we didn't rebuild, it's not like we lost on value in this trade or something. We dumped Birch's contract for a starting level player who fills our biggest need.

Why are people acting like we won't have options in the off-season? We can still trade Pascal and OG to start our rebuild. We can still sign-and-trade FVV and Trent, neither of whom would gotten anything for us this deadline. Now we even have Poetl who could bring us back something eventually. And if they all leave and we're bad next season we more than likely keep our pick.

The choice was between making a run for the playoffs and potentially failing and getting a low-end lottery pick... or just ripping apart our roster now and getting a mid-lottery pick. We have the easiest schedule in the league moving forward, obviously you pick the first option. If we fail, we can rebuild in the off-season.

I think it's more people were hoping if you rebuild you get lucky and keep your lottery tickets to get another Barnes on the roster if possible.

So if you don't think you have a way forward you keep your own picks if you can instead of give those away. And try to collect more lottery tickets basically.

While the Raptors didn't pay a high price it does seem just like an illogical move. For an asset that shouldn't appreciate in value when signed to a huge contract in the off season.

You just kind of view guys like Poetl or FVV or Gary Trent as someone that a team looks at and says we're in win now mode and we're willing to overpay market value to keep them as they mean more to us than any other team as critical depth pieces we're going into the luxury tax for as contenders... that's the kind of teams that would value them and should be trading for them.

So desperate teams like the Lakers or potentially still the Mavs. Not teams that could next season turn on the Tank World Order music.

If that's the case, then why even TEMPT fate and potentially lose a top 10 pick for losing in 7 games instead of 5 in the second round this year?

We didn't trade a pick this year, it's next year. If we're going to tank, then our pick will more than likely be safely within the the top 6.

No one was willing to overpay for Trent or FVV, they don't have that kind of value around the league. We value them as starting level players, who else does? What exactly are we missing out on if they walk out on us in the off-season? Look at the offers that were put up for FVV... Kennard and Covington. Bamba and Ross. Might as well let him walk after a half-season of good service.

I totes hear you, and it's not major. But to me it reads as this:

If true no one wanted Trent or FVV you could do

Door A: Nothing, keep your pick without potentially having it land below 6 and not having it next year when/if Trent & FVV leave. Keeping your options fully open. Potentially losing in the first round.

Door B: Trade that pick, protected only for next season then UNPROTECTED for the following seasons and open up the disaster scenario of FVV and Trent and Poetl all leave in the off season. Siakam demands a trade as they don't want to be apart of a rebuild and feel they've earned the respect to be traded as a reward for their loyalty and brining a ring to the franchise. And your pick is kept as a top 5 next year... but lost the following season as another top 5 pick.

All for the reward of losing in the second round, or perhaps just losing in like 7 games instead of 5 in the first round in the playoffs this year.


Why take that risk? Why is losing in the playoffs either a little later in the first round or just in the second round worth putting a potential landmine on a very likely and real threat of a team that will be forced to tank as soon as next season starts?

The risk doesn't seem worth the reward to me, that's what people are mostly saying. You would have gained more flexibility for the franchise by doing nothing than making a trade like that which makes Poelt a potential poison chalice of your own design.

It's just strange. It may not bite you in the ass, but again... why tempt fate for next to 0 potential reward?

[celticfan42487]

Nah he'll be a terrific defender. With us there were just too many things to clean up on too many plays. There's only so much one player can do as the final backstop.

He's a nimble enough mover to guard the perimeter and stay with drivers but he's best as facilitator, rim protector, and high IQ to do a lot of small things that don't show up on the stat sheet (and others that do) that make a positive impact.

I guess the thinking is, how much higher is his ceiling as a traditional C? Have we maximized his development? If the best version of him is, say, slightly better than the current version but still not a floor stretching big, is that worth $20M or $17M/yr?

Worth is an interesting question when you factor in intangibles like IQ and locker room presence and these have value relative to team needs at a given time. Long term, we could not afford to not maximize assets for Jakob given our clear direction so given our needs we made our well. So did TO, and so did Jakob.

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

Not sure how well they move off-ball, but Jakob is a very good facilitator, a cog up high or at the elbows for DHOs, high low passes, bounce passes to back door cutters, faking passes for drives, floaters. He is terrific in keeping the ball moving and they should consider exploiting that in mining more of a half court game. He runs the floor very well in transition, too. It'll stand out how much better he is than when he was there before. He's matured as a man and his game has grown. And being a plug and play player who doesn't need the ball and makes others better is valuable.

Totes hear you, we'll see how it works out and they have so much talent it will work out to some degree.

The main concern with the half court offense isn't so much that Poetl isn't a smart passing big (Kind of like Horford in that way) but that there isn't enough space for players to move around for him to pass too on the team before he got traded to them and he only contracts the spacing further.

The Raptors today are the 28th ranked team in 3point%

Yes that low, almost dead last in the NBA with a team with like 4-5 horrible teams.

So Poetl makes the right play and reads and can be a connector with his passing like Horford but... it won't matter if there isn't spacing to pass it to. Or if his passes just result in FVV shooting bricks. Barnes and Siakam aren't helping with their 30% shooting there either and being at their best in the mid range where Poetl would have to be at and be stationary for players to move around him in a motion offense to dish those dimes.

So we'll see how it works but on paper the synergy is poor in the half court on offense, which isn't any of the players faults just... it is what it is.

They needed someone to shoot to create spacing in the halfcourt so Siakam could go to work without as much traffic, and they got someone who will greatly help them on defense and rebounding instead.

No one's fault mind you, not everyone can trade for KD on the trade deadline

[realball]

I think it's more people were hoping if you rebuild you get lucky and keep your lottery tickets to get another Barnes on the roster if possible.

So if you don't think you have a way forward you keep your own picks if you can instead of give those away. And try to collect more lottery tickets basically.

While the Raptors didn't pay a high price it does seem just like an illogical move. For an asset that shouldn't appreciate in value when signed to a huge contract in the off season.

You just kind of view guys like Poetl or FVV or Gary Trent as someone that a team looks at and says we're in win now mode and we're willing to overpay market value to keep them as they mean more to us than any other team as critical depth pieces we're going into the luxury tax for as contenders... that's the kind of teams that would value them and should be trading for them.

So desperate teams like the Lakers or potentially still the Mavs. Not teams that could next season turn on the Tank World Order music.

If that's the case, then why even TEMPT fate and potentially lose a top 10 pick for losing in 7 games instead of 5 in the second round this year?

We didn't trade a pick this year, it's next year. If we're going to tank, then our pick will more than likely be safely within the the top 6.

No one was willing to overpay for Trent or FVV, they don't have that kind of value around the league. We value them as starting level players, who else does? What exactly are we missing out on if they walk out on us in the off-season? Look at the offers that were put up for FVV... Kennard and Covington. Bamba and Ross. Might as well let him walk after a half-season of good service.

I totes hear you, and it's not major. But to me it reads as this:

If true no one wanted Trent or FVV you could do

Door A: Nothing, keep your pick without potentially having it land below 6 and not having it next year when/if Trent & FVV leave. Keeping your options fully open. Potentially losing in the first round.

Door B: Trade that pick, protected only for next season then UNPROTECTED for the following seasons and open up the disaster scenario of FVV and Trent and Poetl all leave in the off season. Siakam demands a trade as they don't want to be apart of a rebuild and feel they've earned the respect to be traded as a reward for their loyalty and brining a ring to the franchise. And your pick is kept as a top 5 next year... but lost the following season as another top 5 pick.

All for the reward of losing in the second round, or perhaps just losing in like 7 games instead of 5 in the first round in the playoffs this year.


Why take that risk? Why is losing in the playoffs either a little later in the first round or just in the second round worth putting a potential landmine on a very likely and real threat of a team that will be forced to tank as soon as next season starts?

The risk doesn't seem worth the reward to me, that's what people are mostly saying. You would have gained more flexibility for the franchise by doing nothing than making a trade like that which makes Poelt a potential poison chalice of your own design.

It's just strange. It may not bite you in the ass, but again... why tempt fate for next to 0 potential reward?

The pick is top 6 protected in '24 and '25. So if we lose everyone as a FA, we can tank for two years before owing a pick.

The potential reward is having 27-year old starting caliber C who we know already plays very well with our star. And we also dump an extra year on Birch's contract, so if we let FVV and Trent go we still have money to re-sign Poetl and another guard.

[GrindCityHustle]

Safe move instead of making a big trade and losing.

Poetl is super average but solid.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Nah he'll be a terrific defender. With us there were just too many things to clean up on too many plays. There's only so much one player can do as the final backstop.

He's a nimble enough mover to guard the perimeter and stay with drivers but he's best as facilitator, rim protector, and high IQ to do a lot of small things that don't show up on the stat sheet (and others that do) that make a positive impact.

I guess the thinking is, how much higher is his ceiling as a traditional C? Have we maximized his development? If the best version of him is, say, slightly better than the current version but still not a floor stretching big, is that worth $20M or $17M/yr?

Worth is an interesting question when you factor in intangibles like IQ and locker room presence and these have value relative to team needs at a given time. Long term, we could not afford to not maximize assets for Jakob given our clear direction so given our needs we made our well. So did TO, and so did Jakob.

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

Not sure how well they move off-ball, but Jakob is a very good facilitator, a cog up high or at the elbows for DHOs, high low passes, bounce passes to back door cutters, faking passes for drives, floaters. He is terrific in keeping the ball moving and they should consider exploiting that in mining more of a half court game. He runs the floor very well in transition, too. It'll stand out how much better he is than when he was there before. He's matured as a man and his game has grown. And being a plug and play player who doesn't need the ball and makes others better is valuable.

Honestly the thing I'm most interested to see him bring to the Raptors is screening ability. There are different ways to create space on offence, and while the Raps didn't address a lack of shooting, having a guy like Poeltl set screens and create pockets of space should actually help guys like Pascal and Scottie.

The Raptors really haven't had a player in the past couple of years who set good consistent screens. Birch was almost certainly the best screener on the team, and he rarely played. So it'll be interesting to see how Poeltl's ability in this area helps them, especially combined with his facilitation skills.

[G R E Y]

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

Not sure how well they move off-ball, but Jakob is a very good facilitator, a cog up high or at the elbows for DHOs, high low passes, bounce passes to back door cutters, faking passes for drives, floaters. He is terrific in keeping the ball moving and they should consider exploiting that in mining more of a half court game. He runs the floor very well in transition, too. It'll stand out how much better he is than when he was there before. He's matured as a man and his game has grown. And being a plug and play player who doesn't need the ball and makes others better is valuable.

Honestly the thing I'm most interested to see him bring to the Raptors is screening ability. There are different ways to create space on offence, and while the Raps didn't address a lack of shooting, having a guy like Poeltl set screens and create pockets of space should actually help guys like Pascal and Scottie.

The Raptors really haven't had a player in the past couple of years who set good consistent screens. Birch was almost certainly the best screener on the team, and he rarely played. So it'll be interesting to see how Poeltl's ability in this area helps them, especially combined with his facilitation skills.

If that's your focus you're going to love Jakob. He's very smart with timing, angles, and he's so big that once he sets one, they're set lol Lots of our young players (and vets Doug and JRich) used him for those pockets of space be it at the arc or mid range (which is not an analytics darling shot, but underrated in effectiveness). He's good at setting a screen and then quickly resetting for the same player working to create something, if you know what I mean. He just reads live plays and what they need really well and does it willingly. Smart and workmanlike about it.

[John Murdoch]

Not enough skill players on the raps , Masai went overboard with WingSpan guys that cant create for others or handle the ball. Missed opportunity to cash in imo but hes smart he will turn it around Jacob is solid obv

[celticfan42487]

Yeah he should thrive defensively. Raps players are still great defensively around him.

Siakam, OG, Barnes. FVV is above average on defense at least as a PG.

Without a C they were 17th in the NBA on defensive rating.

I'd expect them to finish at least top 10. Depending on how much of a red carpet Gary Trent is, but that's the only one I can point to and say this person isn't either an above average defender to elite defender so it should be lockdown city on that end.

They won't have issues rebounding the ball either to finish the defensive play.

Scoring in the half court on the other hand... will be the issue.

Not sure how well they move off-ball, but Jakob is a very good facilitator, a cog up high or at the elbows for DHOs, high low passes, bounce passes to back door cutters, faking passes for drives, floaters. He is terrific in keeping the ball moving and they should consider exploiting that in mining more of a half court game. He runs the floor very well in transition, too. It'll stand out how much better he is than when he was there before. He's matured as a man and his game has grown. And being a plug and play player who doesn't need the ball and makes others better is valuable.

Honestly the thing I'm most interested to see him bring to the Raptors is screening ability. There are different ways to create space on offence, and while the Raps didn't address a lack of shooting, having a guy like Poeltl set screens and create pockets of space should actually help guys like Pascal and Scottie.

The Raptors really haven't had a player in the past couple of years who set good consistent screens. Birch was almost certainly the best screener on the team, and he rarely played. So it'll be interesting to see how Poeltl's ability in this area helps them, especially combined with his facilitation skills.

There's definitely more than one way to make space.

I think in the end the main concern to me is Siakam and Barnes would both do best if you kind of kept the middle open.

The only guy on the Raps that seems like the type that would thrive off screens into mid range stop and pops is Gary Trent.

But maybe this opens up FVV to be an NBA player on offense again when it comes to shooting. Who knows. I have no idea. This is a good team full of good players, it'll work out no matter what reasonable system is run to some degree.

But who cares about the offense honestly, this addresses just as big of an issue in defensive rebounding. And the defense is going to be excellent. I'd expect top 10 defensive rating rest of season at least honestly.


I'd even be tempted to sit Gary Trent and just play FVV - OG - Barnes - Siakam - Poetl every single second and win by a final score of 48-32 every game. Just for fun.