Stein/Fischer: Toronto willing to deal RJ Barrett, IQ, Poeltl for Significant Upgrades // #9 Available

[RaptorLakerJay]

Grange: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/raptors-not-willing-to-include-jakob-poeltl-in-potential-deal-for-kevin-durant/

But to cut through some of the smoke: multiple sources have confirmed to me that Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl would not be part of any deal — however unlikely a Raptors-Suns deal might be — centred around Durant. The Suns were asking for Poeltl at the trade deadline and got a firm ‘no’ back then, but that hasn’t stopped them from asking, apparently.

Toronto’s goal this summer is simple: build a roster competitive enough to at least have a puncher’s chance at reaching the Conference Finals and beyond next season. So yes, they are monitoring the Durant marketplace. Even as he’s about to turn 37, Durant can lift a team like few others, given he has averaged 26.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while shooting 57 percent on two-point attempts and 42.1 percent on threes across nearly 139 games.

But there’s no point in adding a player like Durant if the team around him can’t compete. As Poeltl has repeatedly shown since Toronto re-acquired him at the trade deadline in 2023, the Raptors struggle significantly when he doesn’t play.

A more likely scenario is that the Raptors reach a contract extension with Poeltl sooner rather than later, with the structure and timing designed to offer the club flexibility as they build out a competitive roster.

Poeltl is eligible for a three-year, $88.2 million extension if he opts into the final year of his current deal, or a four-year, $121.8 million extension if he opts out and signs a new contract starting this season. Opting into the final year of his current $19.5 million deal would give the Raptors some additional cap flexibility for any acquisitions they might want to pursue this summer.

The Raptors need Poeltl to be competitive in any scenario, and just as importantly, Poeltl — coming off a career year at age 29 — wants to remain in Toronto for whatever turnaround lies ahead, as he told me when we spoke in Orlando at season’s end:

“I’ve bought into this process and I’ve kind of gone through the tough times already,” he said. “So this is my home right now, and I really hope it’s going to be in the future as well.”

Toronto’s goal this summer is simple: build a roster competitive enough to at least have a puncher’s chance at reaching the Conference Finals and beyond next season. So yes, they are monitoring the Durant marketplace. Even as he’s about to turn 37, Durant can lift a team like few others, given he has averaged 26.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while shooting 57 percent on two-point attempts and 42.1 percent on threes across nearly 139 games.

But there’s no point in adding a player like Durant if the team around him can’t compete. As Poeltl has repeatedly shown since Toronto re-acquired him at the trade deadline in 2023, the Raptors struggle significantly when he doesn’t play.

A more likely scenario is that the Raptors reach a contract extension with Poeltl sooner rather than later, with the structure and timing designed to offer the club flexibility as they build out a competitive roster.

Poeltl is eligible for a three-year, $88.2 million extension if he opts into the final year of his current deal, or a four-year, $121.8 million extension if he opts out and signs a new contract starting this season. Opting into the final year of his current $19.5 million deal would give the Raptors some additional cap flexibility for any acquisitions they might want to pursue this summer.

The Raptors need Poeltl to be competitive in any scenario, and just as importantly, Poeltl — coming off a career year at age 29 — wants to remain in Toronto for whatever turnaround lies ahead, as he told me when we spoke in Orlando at season’s end:

“I’ve bought into this process and I’ve kind of gone through the tough times already,” he said. “So this is my home right now, and I really hope it’s going to be in the future as well.”

[Scase]

IQ + RJ for KD

Doesn't sound tooooooooo bad.

Pretty sure they dont do that w/o the 9th pick, which kinda kills it a bit.

[Clutch0z24]

Idk if there will be a player on the market outside of Giannis/KD (Even at 37 years old) to give us a legit chance to come out the East....Even KD is questionable....So at that point who are we trading for? Sabonis, Ball, Young (If hes even available).....

[WuTang_OG]

Read on Twitter

[sidsid]

The issue has got to be finding a way to trade RJ. The Suns likely want IQ and Jak, and that creates some role problems on our end.

Finding a way to turn RJ into other pieces, when I assume he's only upped his value to neutral is the difficult piece. And the 9th pick and how you can leverage that in these tandem trades is another one (potential trade down scenarios).

Jak+IQ is there, but Masai wants 9+RJ to bring something to balance things out (the Blazers rumour for example).

[TorontoBarneys]

Idk if there will be a player on the market outside of Giannis/KD (Even at 37 years old) to give us a legit chance to come out the East....Even KD is questionable....So at that point who are we trading for? Sabonis, Ball, Young (If hes even available).....

Garland is my ideal offseason pick-up but I don't know if he's even available.

[Clutch0z24]

Read on Twitter

If KD wants to come here that would help our chances to get him...

[tsherkin]

Is there any move we can make that would end in a title though?

No, I wouldn't think so.

But renting KD for a year before he bails for somewhere more interesting after we've given up assets for him isn't an appealing notion to me. I'd like to build for a little longer-term a plan here.

[djsunyc]

IQ + RJ for KD

Doesn't sound tooooooooo bad.

To what end, though?

Losing those two for one year of KD which won't end in a title... and we do that because?

i think that's such an awful and sorry, just a dumb way of evaluating things. 99.99% of all moves won't end in a title. because you know, winning a title is almost impossible.

but you keep making moves to try and get better and things may break the right way. that goes for any trade. there will be more moves after this one.

secondly, you have no clue how things will play out if we get him. what if KD actually likes his time here and decides to extend? because the chance of having a player like that, for a team in canada, can only happen if you get him now because there is no way to get him later. raptors have to play the pre-agency card and hope they can convince him to stay.

[rapsincr]

Read on Twitter

If KD wants to come here that would help our chances to get him...

i read that as houston is the spot durant wants the most and that we are involved at 9. it was worded oddly, seemed like 2 separate thoughts..at least imo.

[Raptorfan2012]

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If KD wants to come here that would help our chances to get him...

i read that as houston is the spot durant wants the most and that we are involved at 9. it was worded oddly.

I just don't understand why Durant wants to go to Houston. Usually he wants to team up with someone like Irving and Booker. Durant wants to go to Houston to team up with... FVV? Sengun??

[tsherkin]

i think that's such an awful and sorry, just a dumb way of evaluating things. 99.99% of all moves won't end in a title. because you know, winning a title is almost impossible.

but you keep making moves to try and get better and things may break the right way. that goes for any trade. there will be more moves after this one.

secondly, you have no clue how things will play out if we get him. what if KD actually likes his time here and decides to extend? because the chance of having a player like that, for a team in canada, can only happen if you get him now because there is no way to get him later. raptors have to play the pre-agency card and hope they can convince him to stay.

I think you're missing my point.

It's not just the absence of a title. I'd expect him to be a 1-year rental, which means we would be giving up assets for nothing, for a diminishing asset. Unless you want to try re-sign him for his final contract at an exorbitant price?

I think we can move IQ and RJ, if we must move both, for assets better suited to a longer-term plan.

KD is a scintillating talent, but he's old, he's injured, he's expensive and he isn't a long-term plan of any sort.

[Tor_Raps]

Why does a team need to go from tanking to being a championship contender the following year?

Its ok to make a move as long as it makes you better overall. Gradual improvement how majority of teams win championships. The ones who bank on shortcuts typically fall flat on their face.

[Kingsway_fan]

If KD wants to come here that would help our chances to get him...

i read that as houston is the spot durant wants the most and that we are involved at 9. it was worded oddly.

I just don't understand why Durant wants to go to Houston. Usually he wants to team up with someone like Irving and Booker. Durant wants to go to Houston to team up with... FVV? Sengun??

Hot weather. Low taxes. It's usa.

[rapsincr]

If KD wants to come here that would help our chances to get him...

i read that as houston is the spot durant wants the most and that we are involved at 9. it was worded oddly.

I just don't understand why Durant wants to go to Houston. Usually he wants to team up with someone like Irving and Booker. Durant wants to go to Houston to team up with... FVV? Sengun??

personally i think he wants the spurs.

[tsherkin]

Why does a team need to go from tanking to being a championship contender the following year?

They don't. But they should build forward. KD isn't a "building forward" kind of movement. It's giving up a bunch of assets for an old guy who will hit his decline phase any time now and may bail after the season... or will require a hearty, super-expensive extension on his last contract.

That's not heady building for a foundation that'll last. He isn't a remarkable defender, he's going to probably miss 10-15 games, we give up the best small guard we've got AND our best rim pressure guy (and maybe our pick?) and...

Then what?

[Raptorfan2012]

i read that as houston is the spot durant wants the most and that we are involved at 9. it was worded oddly.

I just don't understand why Durant wants to go to Houston. Usually he wants to team up with someone like Irving and Booker. Durant wants to go to Houston to team up with... FVV? Sengun??

Hot weather. Low taxes. It's usa.

Then the Spurs or Miami makes more sense. Durant has a history of teaming up with his star buddies - Wemby or Bam would make more sense. Houston is a good team, but I don't see anybody there who is buddies with Durant.

[Tor_Raps]

Why does a team need to go from tanking to being a championship contender the following year?

They don't. But they should build forward. KD isn't a "building forward" kind of movement. It's giving up a bunch of assets for an old guy who will hit his decline phase any time now and may bail after the season... or will require a hearty, super-expensive extension on his last contract.

That's not heady building for a foundation that'll last. He isn't a remarkable defender, he's going to probably miss 10-15 games, we give up the best small guard we've got AND our best rim pressure guy (and maybe our pick?) and...

Then what?

Why did you remove the rest of my post when I said exactly what youre saying..."teams who take shortcuts typically fall flat on their face"

Its ok to trade for a "medium star" even if it means we don't become championship contenders right away was my point.

[LoveMyRaps]

Get er done

[tsherkin]

Its ok to trade for a "medium star" even if it means we don't become championship contenders right away was my point.

Sure.. if it makes sense. Giving up young assets for a short-term rental that doesn't build your future, though, doesn't make any sense.

And that's what we'd be doing with Durant.

We'd be losing heavily at the point, creating an even LARGER logjam in our forward slots. We'd have an excellent scorer who is a frequently injured, a mediocre defender and playmaker, sort of like a super Ingram.

And then what do we do when he doesn't re-sign, or wants $70+ million for 2 or 3 years?