Raptors Center Shares Honest Opinion on Toronto's Upcoming Season

Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl says the priority this season will be developing this young core as the organization heads into a rebuild

Sep 30, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl (19) talks to the media during media day at Scotiabank Area. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Jakob Poeltl knows how it goes.

Just two years ago, the Austrian center was thrilled to be leaving San Antonio where the Spurs were amid a 22-60 season. When the Toronto Raptors finally pulled the trigger on their deadline deal to re-acquired Poeltl, the 7-foot big man raved about getting an opportunity to win again. For too long, he'd been stuck toiling on a team vying for better lottery odds.

But now Poeltl is back — sort of.

San Antonio's plan that season worked to perfection. They landed Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick and look poised to be contenders again in the not-too-distant future. Toronto, meanwhile, has opted to follow their lead and is preparing for a "rebuild" this season, as Raptors president Masai Ujiri called it on Monday.

Toronto isn't likely to be quite as bad as the worst teams in the conference this season. Brooklyn and Washington seem determined to land a top-four pick, Detroit and Charlotte should be in the mix too, and Chicago may pivot in that direction as well. But parsing Ujiri's words on Monday, it's clear tanking part of the season is an option.

"You hope for the best, but we all know, what reality is in this league, and the draft is a way for us to build teams and to acquire players, especially in a market like our market," Ujiri said when asked about the forbidden T word.

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That's not to say the players are going to tank the season. Their goal is going to be to win every night, but the reality of the situation is clear.

“We're all aware of the situation. We had a massive change in the team since the middle of last season. So we know that we're starting somewhere in the beginning,” Poeltl said. “We're definitely capable of winning some games (but) I know that's not the main focus for us.… This has to be a long-term project. I think we all know, we're not going to go attack the championship this year. It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development in terms of that.”

That's the truth.

Scottie Barnes and his young teammates can talk all they want about how this season is about winning. They're entitled to scoff at the word rebuild, as Barnes did earlier this summer when he rejected it and insisted on winning this year. That's how young players are supposed to act.

But Poeltl is no longer naïve and after years of toiling in the middle, trying to compete with teams not quite good enough to compete, Toronto has finally claimed a clear identity. This is Year 1 of a rebuild and what's next remains to be seen.