After establishing himself as a stout defensive starting center in San Antonio, Jakob Poeltl was traded back to where he started his career in Toronto at the deadline. For the whole season, Poeltl averaged 12.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, but his presence in the middle wasn’t enough to pull the Raptors out of their season-long funk.
Despite that, coming into this offseason the Raptors were considered the frontrunners to retain Poeltl, largely because they gave up a first round pick to bring him in for 26 games last year. Still, in a center market short on talent, if Poeltl was willing to open up his free agency to more teams, he figured to find a number of potential suitors searching for his caliber of rim protection. In the end, the veteran center reportedly elected to stay in Toronto, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reporting a four-year contract for $80 million.
ESPN Sources: Free agent C Jakob Poeltl has agreed on a four-year, $80 million contract to stay with the Toronto Raptors. Poeltl is represented by Michael Tellem and Sam Goldfeder of @excelbasketball. Deal includes a player option.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2023
As noted by Wojnarowski, Poeltl’s deal will include a fourth-year player option, further bolstering how well Poeltl and his representation did on this negotiation. Toronto’s overall direction remains in flux, but the 27-year-old Poeltl projects to provide stability as a defensive anchor for the next several years, and this deal also covers Poeltl’s prime years. The next priority for Toronto will be re-signing Fred VanVleet, who is apparently debating between staying in Toronto and a large, short-term deal in Houston.