Free agent center Jakob Poeltl has agreed on a four-year, $80 million contract to stay with the Toronto Raptors, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
The deal includes a player option.
Poeltl, 27, averaged 12.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks across 72 games last season.
He played the final 26 of those games in Toronto after the Raptors acquired him in a deadline trade with the San Antonio Spurs for a top-6-protected first-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft, plus a pair of second-round selections.
It was a homecoming for Poeltl, who had originally been drafted ninth overall by the Raptors in the 2016 draft before being sent to the Spurs in the summer of 2018, along with DeMar DeRozan, as part of the trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
At 7-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Poeltl is an excellent interior defensive player, one capable of banging with the biggest centers in the league. He gave Toronto a much-needed boost to its size and rim protection after years of the Raptors skewing toward smaller, quicker players at the pivot.
The impact was felt immediately. Toronto’s defense went from 17th before the trade to top five after Poeltl was inserted into the starting lineup on Feb. 12. When he was on the court, the Raptors outscored opponents by 9.1 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report
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Sources — Raptors agree to 4-year, $80 million deal with free agent Jakob Poeltl
