The "Keep Poeltl" Thread

[raincityraptors]

I'm guessing most of us want to ensure we get the best pick we can, but this front office can find talent wherever they pick.

Looks like Poeltl is just hitting his peak and could be the kind of player who has a long career.

Centers take time to develop and there aren't a lot of great ones available.

He has such good chemistry with RJ and Dick.

A developing team needs a functional Center to develop good habits.

This team is better with him on and off the court.

He could be the Center we need in a couple of seasons anyway.

I don't think this team is that far away - especially if we get an early pick in a strong draft.

[TheRealDeal]

I want to keep Yak, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him take a couple of months off this season

[Raps in 4]

Yak is old. By the time we're ready to compete, he'll be well into his 30s and on the decline.

I don't mind keeping him around, but I'm also not worried about replacing his production if we move on from him (defensive bigs are pretty easy to find). His presence on the team right now doesn't serve any purpose other than getting our guys some experience playing with an NBA-calibre big. Admittedly, I'm not sure how important that is or isn't for development. Masai will make that call.

[Potential]

Stop doubting Masai. He said Pöltl was a top 10 centre in the NBA for a reason

[Tor_Raps]

If we're keeping him then go sign him to an extension after the trade deadline.

He is going to be entering his free agent season next year and I don't want to have to tell people how that's worked out for us recently lol.

[alienchild]

Yak is old. By the time we're ready to compete, he'll be well into his 30s and on the decline.

I don't mind keeping him around, but I'm also not worried about replacing his production if we move on from him (defensive bigs are pretty easy to find). His presence on the team right now doesn't serve any purpose other than getting our guys some experience playing with an NBA-calibre big. Admittedly, I'm not sure how important that is or isn't for development. Masai will make that call.

You're not 1% wrong. More like 97%

[AbC?]

You don't paint a house before building the foundation. He's been amazing this year but he's a complementary piece. You need something to complement first.

He's 29 years old, plenty left in the tank but if/when he'll decline is unknown.
More importantly, he has a player option after next season. He could walk, he's been on bad teams for a while now, and has said he wants to compete.
His trade value is likely at it's peak right now - putting up career highs, playing great, still has 2 playoff runs before he's due for a new contract for a prospective contender, cost controlled.
He hurts the value of the 2024 pick - our most important asset

If hypothetically you could get him to agree to a contract extension AND he's willing to sit games and no team offers a can't refuse deal, sure, keep him.

[Clutch0z24]

guys got to stop with the narritive the Raptors can find talent wherever they pick nonsense....Yeah they have a good track record but you can only get a certain level ceiling type of player with late picks....The chances you get a real number 1 optiion which is what the Raptors need and theres no question about that ....We need a top 5 pick to do that....Cause the odds in NBA history says that...

As for Yak hes very moveable....Hes playing as good as hes ever going to right now since hes getting way more touches here than he would any other team he is on....Hes a very good player but there is a term called sell high and this is a perfect example of that....You could prolly pull a decent package for him now compared to what you will be able to as he ages or just flat out leaves in free agency...Holding onto players too long costed Masai in the trade Market for Siakam...

Yak while a good rebounder/rim protector hes a non shooting big in a league where you need one of them kind of big men who have some guard skills....Thats how the league is going....We should be looking for that in these next 2 drafts coming up with later picks we obtain....If we didn't trade for Yak in the first place we prolly have Zach Edey right now which would be a better player to have in terms of where we are at as a team.

I say make the trade now and find a different style of big man for the future....Yaks perfect role on a championship team imo is a backup big man to a guy like Wemby...Comes into games to be that bruiser/rebounder...

[Basketball_Jones]

I don’t really care either way as long as we get good value in return. I’m worried this season is going to take a bit of a toll on his body though. If they are smart they start load managing him before all star break instead of running him into the ground in meaningless tank games. Will be a valuable player for us when we have our core locked in next season.

[ATLTimekeeper]

You don't paint a house before building the foundation. He's been amazing this year but he's a complementary piece. You need something to complement first.

He's 29 years old, plenty left in the tank but if/when he'll decline is unknown.
More importantly, he has a player option after next season. He could walk, he's been on bad teams for a while now, and has said he wants to compete.
His trade value is likely at it's peak right now - putting up career highs, playing great, still has 2 playoff runs before he's due for a new contract for a prospective contender, cost controlled.
He hurts the value of the 2024 pick - our most important asset

If hypothetically you could get him to agree to a contract extension AND he's willing to sit games and no team offers a can't refuse deal, sure, keep him.

He hasn't hurt the value of the pick and he's been on plenty of awful teams. Guys like this tend to make young players look good. Usually non all-star Cs in their 30s don't break the bank.

The Raptors are building around Scottie Barnes. If they end up with someone better in the draft, they could re-evaluate that plan, but he's the foundation.

If they drafted a C with their lotto pick this year, then sure, flip him in July. Otherwise they're just stuck looking to overpay to fill that position again a la OKC.

[Thaddy]

We should sell high. He's on a cheap contract that means he can be a part of two playoff runs. He's very similar to Zubac despite being a couple of years older. At a 20M salary it's easy for our trade partner to match and we can target picks in 2027 / 2028. Once we're a contender we can use that draft capital to find a piece to contend with.

I would be looking at the Pelicans and Grizzlies as our trade partners. They have picks in the aforementioned period and they have superstar pieces like Zion, Murphy, Morant, Bane, etc already that they can contend with.

[ItsDanger]

When the new core (still a work in progress) is ready to make a push, he will be 30+, pending FA, maybe on decline, etc. This is the timeline issue again. Have we not learned the lessons by now?

[DelAbbot]

A developing team needs a functional Center to develop good habits.

prove this

[raincityraptors]

A developing team needs a functional Center to develop good habits.

prove this

too lazy

[DelAbbot]

I'm guessing most of us want to ensure we get the best pick we can, but this front office can find talent wherever they pick.

This is the #1 argument for not tanking this season.

[Duffman100]

A developing team needs a functional Center to develop good habits.

prove this

If you replace Poeltl with Bruno, do you think the young players develop the same way?

It's an impossible thing to prove or disprove. But you have to go by logic in these cases

[raincityraptors]

I'm guessing most of us want to ensure we get the best pick we can, but this front office can find talent wherever they pick.

This is the #1 argument for not tanking this season.

I don't think Jak stops us from having the kind of season that still nets us great lotto odds.

These guys are playing hard and deserve to see a W in some of these close games to repay their hard work.

My position isn't arguing either extreme. With the lottery, it isn't the worst thing to win a few more games than we are now.

I just think they don't have the depth to compete this season and there are other players to deal that are easier to replace (like Bruce once healthy).

The risk in my argument is that Jak's game doesn't age well or he walks after this contract.

I just think he is becoming a part of our core and love seeing the chemistry he has with our guys.

He is really winning me over this season with his screens and the efforts he puts into covering for mistakes.

His hustle and floater game may age well and he is strong.

[ConSarnit]

Jak is just playing more minutes. His per 36 is exactly in line with his career averages. Is there value in him playing more minutes? Sure. Is he actually playing any better than the past 4-5 years? No.

Poeltl is a good player but he hasn’t made any meaningful improvement this year like posters are implying. He’s just playing more.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Yak is old. By the time we're ready to compete, he'll be well into his 30s and on the decline.

I don't mind keeping him around, but I'm also not worried about replacing his production if we move on from him (defensive bigs are pretty easy to find). His presence on the team right now doesn't serve any purpose other than getting our guys some experience playing with an NBA-calibre big. Admittedly, I'm not sure how important that is or isn't for development. Masai will make that call.

No he is not old. Centres peak later......how much education do we need to do about centres before all these short kings get it?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

guys got to stop with the narritive the Raptors can find talent wherever they pick nonsense....Yeah they have a good track record but you can only get a certain level ceiling type of player with late picks....The chances you get a real number 1 optiion which is what the Raptors need and theres no question about that ....We need a top 5 pick to do that....Cause the odds in NBA history says that...

As for Yak hes very moveable....Hes playing as good as hes ever going to right now since hes getting way more touches here than he would any other team he is on....Hes a very good player but there is a term called sell high and this is a perfect example of that....You could prolly pull a decent package for him now compared to what you will be able to as he ages or just flat out leaves in free agency...Holding onto players too long costed Masai in the trade Market for Siakam...

Yak while a good rebounder/rim protector hes a non shooting big in a league where you need one of them kind of big men who have some guard skills....Thats how the league is going....We should be looking for that in these next 2 drafts coming up with later picks we obtain....If we didn't trade for Yak in the first place we prolly have Zach Edey right now which would be a better player to have in terms of where we are at as a team.

I say make the trade now and find a different style of big man for the future....Yaks perfect role on a championship team imo is a backup big man to a guy like Wemby...Comes into games to be that bruiser/rebounder...

35 and 12 against the Celtics.....RealGm: backup big