Lakers - Raptors: Poeltl as the centerpiece

[MessiahUjiri]

Lakers want to win now. They need a big man, another scoring option, and defense at the point. This trade addresses 2 of the 3 needs.

Raptors want to tank. They want a good future SF, and are open to taking on bad contracts if it brings picks.


Jakob Poeltl & Davion Mitchell
for
Dalton Knecht, 2 2nds ('25 LAC/LAL), and bad salaries (J Vanderbilt, G Vincent, J Hood-Schfino)




Raptors should do this if they're high on Knecht. Maybe they need one more 2nd? That Vando contract is long.
Lakers will definitely start to climb the rankings after this trade.

[Texas Chuck]

I think this deal favors the Lakers a bit on value. But I like the idea here. The direction makes sense for both and I think the value is pretty close. The length of that Vanderbilt deal though is tough.

[Godaddycurse]

Don't want Knecht when we have Dick already. 1 defensive liability 3 pt shooter is enough

[MessiahUjiri]

Don't want Knecht when we have Dick already. 1 defensive liability 3 pt shooter is enough

The idea with Scottie is to surround him with as many shooters as possible. I think RJ is the odd man in the future, not Dick/Knecht. With RJ's value built up this season, he would be a great candidate to trade around the NBA draft.

To address the value, maybe the Raptors ask for Hachimura instead of Vando? He's more Masai's style of player.

[Godaddycurse]

Don't want Knecht when we have Dick already. 1 defensive liability 3 pt shooter is enough

The idea with Scottie is to surround him with as many shooters as possible. I think RJ is the odd man in the future, not Dick/Knecht. With RJ's value built up this season, he would be a great candidate to trade around the NBA draft.

To address the value, maybe the Raptors ask for Hachimura instead of Vando? He's more Masai's style of player.

No ideally you dont put more than 1 defensive liability on court next to scottie if you want to win. OP is doubly worse when you trade our defensive C away too.

[Andre Roberstan]

Lakers want to win now. They need a big man, another scoring option, and defense at the point. This trade addresses 2 of the 3 needs.

Raptors want to tank. They want a good future SF, and are open to taking on bad contracts if it brings picks.


Jakob Poeltl & Davion Mitchell
for
Dalton Knecht, 2 2nds ('25 LAC/LAL), and bad salaries (J Vanderbilt, G Vincent, J Hood-Schfino)




Raptors should do this if they're high on Knecht. Maybe they need one more 2nd? That Vando contract is long.
Lakers will definitely start to climb the rankings after this trade.

I don't know that this works for either side, but I really like the fundamental idea of Poeltl as a Lakers target. Lakers have to be careful, as they really only get one crack at getting that impact guy, but I think Poeltl does a lot of things that they should be really happy with. Mitchell I'm less sanguine on.

Do they give up Knecht for the opportunity to pay Mitchell? I'm not sure they do. I think that small salary is valuable to them.

Really interesting thinking here.

[MessiahUjiri]

Don't want Knecht when we have Dick already. 1 defensive liability 3 pt shooter is enough

The idea with Scottie is to surround him with as many shooters as possible. I think RJ is the odd man in the future, not Dick/Knecht. With RJ's value built up this season, he would be a great candidate to trade around the NBA draft.

To address the value, maybe the Raptors ask for Hachimura instead of Vando? He's more Masai's style of player.

No ideally you dont put more than 1 defensive liability on court next to scottie if you want to win. OP is doubly worse when you trade our defensive C away too.

The Raps have a very easy schedule coming up, and they will be close to the playin unless they trade Poeltl. In order to tank successfully, they have to get worse by design.

After this trade, They will play Olynyk, Mogbo and Chomche at C, and look to shore up the defense in the off season.

They have Ochai @ the wing alongside Scottie. I agree they need another defender, when they want to win.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Sign me up

[nzahir]

Pass

Jakob is a solid defender, but near the end of guys I want

Makes like 20m, not a floor spacer

And Mitchell doesnt give us a 3rd playmaker. Not even sure if he will even be able to play much in the playoffs, a non shooter

Knecht has too much upside for us, I dont see us moving him unless a young guy is involved

For bigs I prefer

Kessler, Turner, Brook Lopez, RW3 is a higher risk but I prefer it, and maybe even Vuc (but tilting towards offense here and just being big)

Jakob would be last for me honestly

[Thaddy]

Poeltl isn't a player the Raptors are looking to trade unless they get a great offer. Knecht sucks and he's an older prospect, they could do a lot better. He's a shooter that's struggling to shoot? Knecht is at 34% on the season and FT% is 80%, that's not good for a shooter. The Raptors wouldn't agree to this at all.

[One_and_Done]

I just don't like the idea of the Lakers adding a 5 who Reddick might start.

[jayjaysee]

I think Toronto has plenty of time to flip Dalton for different value. But…if Dalton is struggling with LBJ, I don’t see how he’d be considered a good enough piece with Barnes in order to take on Vandy and lose Poeltl.

I also think Atlanta trades Capela and the Sac first for Poeltl which feels better than taking on Vandy..

Toronto should be wanting a swap (Indy first for the LAL 2026 first) on top of OP imo

There’s a lot of centers on market right now, but Poeltl feels the best (or second depending on Claxton..)

[BigGargamel]

Ujiri loves Poeltl. He traded a first rounder for him and resigned him. He's having a very good year. Trading him for Knecht (who is absolutely nothing special) and trash just isn't it.

[wemby]

Kessler, Turner, Brook Lopez, RW3 is a higher risk but I prefer it, and maybe even Vuc (but tilting towards offense here and just being big)

Jakob would be last for me honestly

If you prefer RW3 and Vuc over Jakob, you're I get that he doesn't spread the floor, but he's much more consistent than RW3 and much better than Vuc in net terms (Vuc is horrendous on D). I'll easily take him over Brook Lopez too, but I could understand the case if shooting is the most important skill you're looking for. Kessler is younger, but better? I don't think so, Jakob can do more on offense than Kessler and is also a really good defensive player. Only one in that list I have ahead of Jakob is Myles Turner.

[BrianInPhilly]

I don’t understand the fascination with Poeltl. He’s an average big who is low end starter / backup sort of guy. Dozens of guys like him in the nba and most are backups (Gafford, Alex Len, Steven Adams, Valincunis, etc)

[oldncreaky]

I understand the OP's frustration with Poeltl. Take last night: the Raptors had squandered a 4Q lead and were down 6 with under 5 minutes to play. Enter Poeltl, and the Raptors won by 3, and without him they lose for sure. Very frustrating I know. If the Raptors are mostly healthy they might win 40-50% of their remaining games and threaten to breach the 30 win mark and end up 24th in the league. The horrors!

As for TOR's roster, they have 5 rookies, 4 more guys on rookie-scale deals, and only 7 "vets" to speak of. But the roster includes at least 2 developing players at SF who I'd value far above Knecht, and at least 7 guys who have played some SF this season (Dick, Agbaji, Barrett, Barnes, Brown, Walter, Battle) while the list of PFs is Scottie and the soon-to-depart Boucher. So the target of Knecht, both position and player, is waaaaay off.

Relax. The Raptors will be in the lottery -- a thin roster and injuries took care of that -- and with flat odds their odds won't be much different if they fall to 7th worst instead of 4th. And maybe Olynyk is injured again anyway, and if gets down to it, Scottie might have a hangnail or cut himself shaving or something and then MU will be forced to put Scottie in bubble wrap all of March.

Last but not least, if you are going to give away talent in order to tank, consider choosing a different and more deserving beneficiary than the Lakers. They've had their share of winning and championships, How 'bout the Pacers? or Pistons? Or help out CHO or WAS who could really use it? Heck, even UTA, although I'd throw up a little in my mouth on principle if Ainge is gifted any talent.

[dcstanley]

Kessler, Turner, Brook Lopez, RW3 is a higher risk but I prefer it, and maybe even Vuc (but tilting towards offense here and just being big)

Jakob would be last for me honestly

If you prefer RW3 and Vuc over Jakob, you're I get that he doesn't spread the floor, but he's much more consistent than RW3 and much better than Vuc in net terms (Vuc is horrendous on D). I'll easily take him over Brook Lopez too, but I could understand the case if shooting is the most important skill you're looking for. Kessler is younger, but better? I don't think so, Jakob can do more on offense than Kessler and is also a really good defensive player. Only one in that list I have ahead of Jakob is Myles Turner.

Williams has a higher ceiling when healthy. His defense is borderline DPOY level, even after all of the injuries.

Granted, I don't watch the Raptors much at all but the data isn't too kind to Poeltl compared to his counterparts.

[wemby]

Kessler, Turner, Brook Lopez, RW3 is a higher risk but I prefer it, and maybe even Vuc (but tilting towards offense here and just being big)

Jakob would be last for me honestly

If you prefer RW3 and Vuc over Jakob, you're I get that he doesn't spread the floor, but he's much more consistent than RW3 and much better than Vuc in net terms (Vuc is horrendous on D). I'll easily take him over Brook Lopez too, but I could understand the case if shooting is the most important skill you're looking for. Kessler is younger, but better? I don't think so, Jakob can do more on offense than Kessler and is also a really good defensive player. Only one in that list I have ahead of Jakob is Myles Turner.

Williams has a higher ceiling when healthy. His defense is borderline DPOY level, even after all of the injuries.

Granted, I don't watch the Raptors much at all but the data isn't too kind to Poeltl compared to his counterparts.

Williams is NEVER healthy. In fact, RWIII healthy is an oxymoron. I've watched Poeltl a lot during his Spurs days, very underrated player.

[wegotthabeet]

No. Would need to be something similar to the Utah Westbrook trade.

To Los Angeles:
Pöltl
Brown or Boucher & Olynyk

To Toronto:
Hachimura
Vincent
Vanderbilt
Wood
Hood-Schifino
2029 1st round pick (top 4 protected)
2025 2nd round pick (LA Lakers)
2025 2nd round pick (LA Clippers)

[Andre Roberstan]

I don’t understand the fascination with Poeltl. He’s an average big who is low end starter / backup sort of guy. Dozens of guys like him in the nba and most are backups (Gafford, Alex Len, Steven Adams, Valincunis, etc)

There's a reason vanilla is the most sold ice cream flavor in America. Sometimes all you need is someone who gets the job done.

Trust me, as a fan of a team that's pretty regularly played without an active center on roster lately, a good competent big man is worth it.