While lots of big names have been thrown around, could a more unheralded player like Jakob Poeltl be solution at center for the Lakers?
With the need for a center being the big, looming question over the summer for the Lakers, we’ll be taking a look at a number of potential targets, both via free agency or trade. Today, we continue with Jakob Poeltl.
When imagining the players the Lakers could land as their starting center moving forward, the names thrown around are intriguing for various reasons. Nic Claxton or Daniel Gafford are young guys. Brook Lopez or Clint Capela could be value deals. Deandre Ayton could be a rehabilitation project.
One name that rarely comes up is Jakob Poeltl.
Having largely flown under the radar during his career, Poeltl has spent the last two-and-a-half years in Toronto steadily chugging along. In fact, 2024-25 was a career year for him in multiple areas.
He doesn’t have the flashy game that makes his name jump off the page. He’s not the lob-catching big or someone with a lot of athleticism or potential. At 29 years old, he’s more or less who he is at this point in his career.
Would that be good enough to get the Lakers to the next level moving forward?
How would he fit with the Lakers?
As noted, Poeltl isn’t the ideal big man you’d want next to Luka Dončić. He’s not going to rumble down the lane and soar for a dunk. Last season, he had a whopping 29 dunks in 57 games, according to Basketball Reference, ranking him just one behind Jarred Vanderbilt.
What he lacks in athleticism, though, he more than makes up for in efficiency. For his career, he shoots 63.1% from the field and the only time he’s dipped below 60% was his rookie year.
Even if he’s not an athletic finisher, he still finished at 1.2 points per possession as a roll man last season, according to NBA’s tracking data, in 188 possessions. Of players with at least 150 possessions as a roll man, Poeltl was 11th in the league, ranking even with Brook Lopez and a touch below Rudy Gobert (1.21), Anthony Davis (1.23) and Ivica Zubac (1.25).
It wouldn’t be a perfect fit offensively for the Lakers and Luka. There would be concerns about him a shot roll threat as he’s never averaged more than the 2.8 assists per game he reached last season. Offense doesn’t typically flow through him in that manner, so there would be an adjustment, at the very least.
Some of those concerns could be mitigated by his defensive impact. Over the last three seasons, the Raptors have been better defensively with him on the floor. However, that number has dwindled each of the last three years from 5.8 points per 100 possessions better in 2022-23 to just 1.1 points better last season.
Still, from a raw production standpoint, he still has averaged at least 1.2 blocks per game each of the last six seasons. He ranked 15th in the league in block percentage. No word on where he ranks in eye poke percentage, though.
Similarly, he’s a solid rebounder, ranking eighth in offensive rebound percentage last season and 16th in overall rebound percentage. For reference, his offensive rebound percentage — a measure of the available offensive rebounds he grabbed while on the floor — of 11.7% was not far off the total rebound percentage of Jaxson Hayes at 13.9%. Put differently, he grabs offensive rebounds at about the same rate Hayes grabs any rebound.
The bar should be much higher than “rebound better than Jaxson Hayes,” but it paints a picture of how he can be impactful even if not being the lob threat that many ideally hope the next center to be.
How much would the Lakers have to give up?
Poeltl is under contract for next season at $19.5 million and will have a player option for 2026-27 at the same number.
Therefore, outside of a straight swap of Rui Hachimura for Poeltl — which would be a bad deal — the Lakers would have to aggregate a combination of Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber and get a little something back to make the money work.
Outside of that, one of the benefits of trading for Poeltl is that he wouldn’t require nearly as much in other assets. It would be a surprise if the Raptors wanted a first round pick for him and Dalton Knecht is certainly too much. Maybe expanding it to include something more or part of a multi-team trade might make more sense, but hte asking price for Poeltl will be low.
How realistic of a target is he?
Given the fit concerns, Poeltl pretty safely falls into the category of backup plans.
You could do worse than Poeltl, but you could also do better. Teams aren’t going to be banging on the door to trade for Poeltl, so the Lakers could scan the market for deals and, if nothing comes up, then turn to Poeltl.
It wouldn’t be an ideal solution, but it would be much better than where the Lakers were last season. Poeltl is a playable big man, even if he has flaws, which the Lakers did not have last year.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.