Jakob Poeltl
Having pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, the Raptors were playing with house money when they selected Jakob Poeltl with the ninth pick in the draft.
Joining a winning team as a 20-year-old rookie is rough, and Poeltl did about as well as expected. A natural center, Poeltl had to contend with Lucas Nogueira for backup minutes behind Jonas Valanciunas.
While Poeltl is younger than Nogueira and had a sparkling college career, Nogueira has cut his teeth the past few years for a chance to play. As a result, Poeltl earned only 626 regular season minutes.
In that time, the big Austrian barely ever touched the ball, finishing with a usage rate of just 12.1 percent. After serving as Utah’s go-to scorer in college, Poeltl put up just 9.5 points per 36 minutes during his rookie year.
But like VanVleet, Poeltl flashed a couple of key skills. First, he was a merciless offensive rebounder, gobbling up 14.1 percent of available offensive boards. For reference, that’s a higher number than that of Tristan Thompson, who is a savant on the offensive glass.
Second, Poeltl had little difficulty finishing over pro defenders on the interior. Unless he develops a jump shot, Poeltl will be limited to dump-offs and rim-running at the NBA level. In that role, he shot an efficient 58.3 percent from the floor. At 7-foot-1 with a 9-foot-3 standing reach, Poeltl welcomes contact and has legitimate NBA athleticism.
Big bodies are valuable in the NBA, and Poeltl has one. How he uses it will determine whether he eventually becomes starter or a backup. Next season, expect Poeltl to once again compete with Nogueira for reserve center minutes; this time, maybe Poeltl will win out.