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One of the most interesting training camp battles of this preseason is the contest for being Jonas Valanciunas’ backup at center, one that never really seemed settled across last season. Lucas Nogueira started the season with the job, but as the season progressed he was eclipsed by rookie Jakob Poeltl, who saw his role continually increase as the season progressed, with double digit minutes in 15 of the last 17 games of the year.
Poeltl, who holds the distinction of being the only lottery pick made during Masai Ujiri’s tenure as general manager of the Raptors, will be one of the young players the team will be looking to this year to show growth and develop into a consistent member of the bench unit. During his rookie campaign, he did show some of the skills that had him drafted 9th overall, with his high basketball IQ and mobility. While he still needs to put on more muscle, he was able to get in position to still have an impressive offensive rebounding rate and showed nice touch around the basket, hitting a solid 61.4% of his shots within 3 feet, as well as 51.9% of his attempts from 3-10 feet.
Some of the areas where he was most impressive don’t show up on the score sheet. Poeltl is great at reading the defense after setting a screen, and showed a high aptitude for rolling into space to either receive a pass from the ball-handler or be in good position for the offensive rebound off a miss. He also showed solid defensive mobility getting back in transition and managing well for a player of his size guarding on the perimeter.
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Where Poeltl did struggle, however, was in dealing with stronger players who often were able to out-muscle him inside both for rebounds as well as on post-ups, with players shooting slightly above their season average at the rim when guarded by Jak. As well, his foul rate was a concern, with Poeltl averaging 6.5 fouls per 36 minutes and frequently finding himself in trouble shortly after checking into games. Going into his sophomore campaign, that’ll be a big area to look for him to improve, because if he can’t stay on the court he may find himself slipping in the rotation.
As well, during his rookie year, he took less than 5% of his shot attempts from outside 10 feet, and with the Raptors’ bevy of guards who like to attack at the rim, it helps the team tremendously when their big men can be threats from outside the paint to help draw out interior defenders. If Poeltl can manage to establish himself as an effective shooter at least from mid-range, it drastically increases his ability to be an effective offensive player for the Raptors. As well, as a more mobile big man, if he can show that shooting touch, it might enable him to be used beside either Nogueira or Jonas Valanciunas in big lineups, to further increase his playing time. He does have established chemistry with Delon Wright going back to their college days playing together at Utah, and with Wright likely moving into the backup spot at point guard, that may help Poeltl’s case for a larger role this year as well.
It’s clear that for the Raptors, they intend for Poeltl to be an important part of the team’s future, it’s just unclear how quickly that will happen. With Bebe also looking for a bigger role this season, the team may only need to find effective minutes from one of their two young big men, and Poeltl will need to show quickly that he belongs on a NBA court, and can stay out there when he is put in the game. For a team that runs the pick and roll as often as the Raptors do, a big man like Jakob who so adeptly navigates defenses to find himself in good position after setting the screen is a great asset to have, and if he can continue to grow and augment his game this could be a big year for the Austrian center.
