Toronto Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl sidelined indefinitely with injury

The Toronto Raptors will be missing a member of their starting lineup for the foreseeable future.

Today, the Raptors announced that Jakob Poeltl is out indefinitely with a left ankle sprain, suffered in the third quarter of Sunday night’s win over the Golden State Warriors.

Poeltl will be evaluated in two weeks, per the team. He is averaging 10.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 26.5 minutes in 36 games this year, all of which have been starts.

It’s been a tough year for Poeltl, who has not found much cohesion on offence this season after signing a four-year deal with Toronto this past summer.

His points per game total is the lowest it’s been since 2020-21, when he was coming off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs.

Originally drafted by Toronto in 2016 at ninth overall, Poeltl was traded in 2018 as part of the most franchise-altering trade in team history when he was sent alongside DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.

With Toronto trading away Precious Achiuwa last month to the New York Knicks as part of the deal that brought RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the team, the Raptors currently have no natural backup option for Poeltl to slot into the starting lineup.

2022 draft pick Christian Koloko, who spent most of last season as the team’s backup centre, has been sidelined all year due to an ongoing respiratory issue that has prevented him from seeing game action. Toronto’s injury could indicate the need for them to sign a player on a 10-day contract out of the G League, given the lack of clarity about Poeltl’s return-to-play timeline.

Toronto takes on the Lakers tonight at 7:30 pm PT/10:30 pm ET, before facing the Los Angeles Clippers 24 hours later at the same tipoff time.

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