The Toronto Raptors are in a mess of their own making. As they try to find a blockbuster trade to level up their roster, they are stuck holding an untradeable contract -- the worst contract in the NBA. It's the one that they gave to veteran center Jakob Poeltl.
No one was holding the Raptors' feet to the fire this summer when they agreed to a contract extension with Poeltl. He was two years away from free agency, coming off of a good-not-great season, a solid starter but not the kind of player who could become disgruntled and force a trade if he was unhappy with his contract situation.
There was no reason to give Poeltl an extension, and certainly not a player-centric one like the three-year, $84 million one they gave him. He is under contract through his age-34 season, at which point he will make $27.3 million. Some of that final year is unguaranteed if he doesn't hit certain benchmarks, so there is a potential way out if things go truly terribly, but even that only comes after another four seasons of contract.
There are many players around the league who will be making $27 million in 2029-30. Most of them will deserve it. Jakob Poeltl wouldn't deserve that much in the present, a low-end starting center who is battling with what appears to now be a chronic back injury. It's hard to see him getting better and healthier over the next four years.
It is easy to look at Poeltl and his contract with a narrow lense, but when the Raptors head to the trade market to make a deal, they need an understanding of the entire league. Here is the reality: Jakob Poeltl is now the worst contract in the entire NBA.
Jakob Poeltl has the worst contract in the NBA
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That title was clearly Joel Embiid's over the past year, as the former MVP was largely unavailable or ineffective due to serious knee injuries. Yet over the last month an All-Star center has emerged, and a brighter future is now peeking through for the Philadelphia 76ers and Embiid. His max contract is still too large, but if he is an All-Star for large portions of it, the bite isn't so bad.
Paul George has similarly returned from an injury-riddled season and played well for Philadelphia, bombing away from deep and settling in as a solid starter for the Sixers. He is also grossly overpaid, but a team trading for him would have a useful player who fits into almost any lineup. His contract is also up in 2027-28 -- and that is a player option, so he could decline the final year and work out a new deal with his team.
Zach LaVine will be paid an inexplicable $48.9 million next season, but then his contract will be up. Domantas Sabonis has another two years on his contract but is a generally healthy positive starter. The same goes for Jerami Grant, who has rebounded in value this season. Patrick Williams is being paid $18 million a year for another three years after this one and he is barely a rotation player for a mediocre Chicago Bulls team, but he is younger and cheaper than Poeltl.
Jakob Poeltl is aging fast, injury-prone and currently dealing with a back injury that could spell the end for his career. He may never again be a starting-level of center. And the Raptors or whatever team accepts him in a trade will need to pay him for another four seasons after this one. It's an abject disaster.
That contract will prevent the Raptors from making the trade they want this year, and probably for years to come. Instead of using their draft picks to land a star, they would need to use them to pay someone to take on Poeltl's contract. Instead of using their cap space to sign a useful player, they may be stuck paying Poeltl nearly $30 million a year whether he is helping them or not.
Jakob Poeltl is now the worst contract in the NBA. And the Raptors handed it to him like they were giving out Halloween candy.
It turns out he was more trick than treat.