Salary asks for VanVleet and Poeltl to return to Raptors revealed: report
Heading into NBA free agency, the Toronto Raptors remain with a pair of their starters unsigned for next season.
NBA Insider Marc Stein, per his Substack newsletter, detailed the prices it seems Toronto will have to pay if they’d like to keep Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl.
“Two sources said Monday that they expect the Raptors to re-sign Poeltl to a deal in the $20 million range annually,” Stein wrote.
The report of Poeltl being interested in staying in Toronto follows earlier news that he wouldn’t be all that thrilled if the team weren’t putting out a competitive roster.
“It’s also not clear whether [the Raptors] will be able to meet the financial demands of center Jakob Poeltl in free agency, who prefers not to be in a rebuilding situation next season, sources told ESPN,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote in an article last week.
Toronto finished 41-41 last season, missing the playoffs after a play-in round loss to the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena, with the biggest change so far being Darko Rajaković replacing longtime head coach Nick Nurse.
Poeltl averaged 13.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26 games for the Raptors this season after being acquired at the NBA trade deadline.
“Sources say that the Raptors realize it will likely require an annual salary of at least $30 million (and possibly higher) to secure VanVleet’s return,” Stein added.
According to reports last week from NBA insider Matt Moore of Action Network, VanVleet is expecting a “big money offer” from the Raptors to keep him this summer.
VanVleet originally signed a contract extension back in 2020, a four-year deal worth $80 million with a fourth-year player option that was the largest contract ever signed by an undrafted player in league history at the time, but opted out of the final year of his deal earlier this month.
VanVleet averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 69 games this past season, shooting 39.3% from the field and 34.2% from three-point range. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career in 2021-22, though he was unable to repeat that honour in 2022-23.
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