Raptors May Have Found a Silver Lining to Jakob Poeltl's Injury

The Toronto Raptors may have found something special in Jontay Porter who has filled in admirably despite another loss to the Los Angeles Clippers

Let’s make this clear: The Toronto Raptors are much better when Jakob Poeltl is healthy and playing.

Nobody should argue that.

But the next few weeks with Poeltl sidelined are providing Toronto with an opportunity to see what else this roster has to offer. It’s not an ideal situation, but maybe there are reasons for optimism.

Take, for example, the emergence of Jontay Porter.

Had Poeltl been healthy, Toronto likely never would have given Porter a shot. It was, after all, just a few weeks ago that Porter was on a G League deal with the Detroit Pistons. Yes, the minor league affiliate of potentially the worst team in NBA history. But with the 7-foot Austrian sidelined, the Raptors have been forced to dive deep into their bench. What they’ve found has been surprisingly useful.

OK, a nine-point showing in a 126-120 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night isn’t the typical stat line of a player to get excited about. But what Porter has shown in limited playing time has been illuminating and potentially important for Toronto’s long-term future.

Porter offers something completely different from Poeltl. He’s a floor-spacer who shot 36.4% from three-point range in his lone season at Missouri and has been a high-volume 33.3% three-point shooter for his G League career.

While he hasn’t exactly been a stellar three-point shooter so far, he’s given Toronto a different dynamic on the court as the Raptors have been able to station the 6-foot-11 big man in the corners at times, an area of the floor you’d never find Poeltl in.

Occasionally, too, he’s made teams pay when they leave him open. He nailed an above-the-break three with ease over Daniel Theis late in the shot clock in the first half against the Clippers.

More impressive has been Porter’s passing. He drove past Russell Westbrook in the first quarter and threw a kick-out pass to the corner for a Garrett Temple three in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he found Jalen McDaniels cutting and threaded a pass inside from the high post for an easy bucket. Later, he brought the ball up in transition and found RJ Barrett in the corner for three. He finished the night with maybe the nicest of his four assists, throwing a touchdown pass to Scottie Barnes who finished through contact for the and-1.

Of his assists, only one was the type of play you’d see Poeltl make. The others were point guard-esque with Porter showing off his mobility and impressive ball-handling skills for a big man.

On the defensive end too, Porter gives Toronto something the team hasn’t really had with Poeltl. It’s still not ideal having Porter on the perimeter, but against the Clippers, he showed he can handle one-on-one matchups adequately.

He somehow forced James Harden into a tough jumper from the free-throw line, stopping one of the NBA’s craftiest isolation scorers. In the third, he stayed with Russell Westbrook on a drive, contesting Westbrook’s missed layup attempt at the rim.

In just over 18 minutes Wednesday night, Porter was a plus-2 and, aside from Temple who played just eight minutes, Porter was the only Raptors player with a positive plus-minus against the Clippers.

This isn’t to say Porter is going to be some high-end rotation player for Toronto or even someone who will be on the Raptors roster next season. For example, it was just last year that Jeff Dowtin Jr. looked impressive on a two-way deal only to be cut following Toronto’s preseason this year. But what the Raptors have seen so far is the archetype of a more versatile center who can complement Barnes and the rest of this Raptors offense.

That’s certainly a silver lining for a Raptors team that looks much-improved lately despite some hard-fought losses. Against Los Angeles, the talent discrepancy just became too much to handle for Toronto who hung with the Clippers all night before Kawhi Leonard and Paul George broke the game open in the fourth.

A trio of three-pointers from George in the fourth stuck Los Angeles to an 11-point lead and Toronto could only do so much to claw back.

If there can be good losses, Wednesday’s was for the Raptors who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back without Poeltl or Pascal Siakam. Toronto saw RJ Barrett score an efficient 24 points while Immanuel Quickley led the way with 25 points including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, this year isn’t really about this year for Toronto.

The Raptors at this point are going to be fighting for a play-in spot all season and the hopes of some miracle playoff run have probably vanished. What’s far more important is figuring out what this roster has to offer for the long run and in Porter Toronto appears to have found something.