INDIANAPOLIS — Let’s take a quick detour from what has turned into a thrilling NBA Finals to something a little more specific to the Toronto Raptors: what’s going on with a former Oklahoma City Thunder star, who also won an MVP award with the team — Kevin Durant?
The reports that the Raptors are monitoring his situation are credible and make sense, given Toronto had conversations with the Suns back in February about the possibility of a Durant trade.
But to cut through some of the smoke: multiple sources have confirmed to me that Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl would not be part of any deal — however unlikely a Raptors-Suns deal might be — centred around Durant. The Suns were asking for Poeltl at the trade deadline and got a firm ‘no’ back then, but that hasn’t stopped them from asking, apparently.
The best way to understand any mention of Poeltl being in a trade for Durant — or anyone else, but in this case with the Suns — is to recognize that Phoenix is trying to drive up the price. They are looking to recoup value after trading two quality starters, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, along with four unprotected first-round picks, for just over two seasons of Durant that yielded a second-round playoff exit, a first-round playoff exit, and no Play-In appearance this past season.
If the Raptors are presented as having a strong offer waiting in the wings, perhaps one of Durant’s preferred suitors steps up with something richer, or a team like Minnesota — another team with interest that’s outside Durant’s list — sweetens the pot.
Toronto’s goal this summer is simple: build a roster competitive enough to at least have a puncher’s chance at reaching the Conference Finals and beyond next season. So yes, they are monitoring the Durant marketplace. Even as he’s about to turn 37, Durant can lift a team like few others, given he has averaged 26.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while shooting 57 percent on two-point attempts and 42.1 percent on threes across nearly 139 games.
But there’s no point in adding a player like Durant if the team around him can’t compete. As Poeltl has repeatedly shown since Toronto re-acquired him at the trade deadline in 2023, the Raptors struggle significantly when he doesn’t play.
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A more likely scenario is that the Raptors reach a contract extension with Poeltl sooner rather than later, with the structure and timing designed to offer the club flexibility as they build out a competitive roster.
Poeltl is eligible for a three-year, $88.2 million extension if he opts into the final year of his current deal, or a four-year, $121.8 million extension if he opts out and signs a new contract starting this season. Opting into the final year of his current $19.5 million deal would give the Raptors some additional cap flexibility for any acquisitions they might want to pursue this summer.
The Raptors need Poeltl to be competitive in any scenario, and just as importantly, Poeltl — coming off a career year at age 29 — wants to remain in Toronto for whatever turnaround lies ahead, as he told me when we spoke in Orlando at season’s end:
“I’ve bought into this process and I’ve kind of gone through the tough times already,” he said. “So this is my home right now, and I really hope it’s going to be in the future as well.”
The Raptors do too.
And with that, I’m off to OKC for Game 7.
