Raptors in tank mode: Pöltl speaks about the bitter season!

Raptors in tank mode: Pöltl speaks about the bitter season!

Toronto, Kanada - In the current NBA season, a worrying picture shows, especially for the Toronto Raptors. So far, the team has a balance of 20-42 and thus shows the fifth worsted rank in the league. Jakob Pöltl, the raptors' starting center, spoke openly about the team's planned tanking efforts to increase the chances of a top lottery pick in the upcoming draft. According to Krone , many teams, including the raptors, try to get closer to this goal by deliberately losing games.

On March 14, 2025, the Raptors were able to celebrate a narrow victory against the Orlando Magic, but this cannot hide the fact that the past games are often shaped with a greatly reduced operational time, as before, as before in a lost game against Utah jazz. In these final phases, the raptors are increasingly relating to younger players, which means that Pöltl, who achieves an average of 14.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season, can spend a few minutes on the pitch than would be nice.

The challenges of tanking

The raptors are part of a broad phenomenon in the NBA, in which teams such as Utah, which recently also extended a home defeat series to eight games, try to fight the risk of tanking. These teams approach the three worst balance sheets in the league and thus increase their chances of the first pick in the upcoming draft. According to ESPN , the three teams each have a 14-percent chance to get.

Pöltl himself expressed that the team's strategy to position himself for the draft deals with him, but his goal remains to remain loyal to the raptors. The team has already rejected trade offers for him. Ingram, who is new to the team, has not played a game for the Raptors due to an ankle injury, but his change to a long -term contract means additional hope for fans. The current season is shaped by playerotation and the focus on the development of young talents, especially with regard to the coin decision in the draft, in which exceptional Cooper Flag is traded as an outstanding potential pick.

regulatory approaches to tanking

The problem of tanking remains complex and controversial in the NBA. While the league has already introduced some measures to prevent stars from being suspended without legitimate injuries, the success of these regulations remains questionable. Experts discuss further opportunities to counteract this phenomenon, including an alignment of the lottery probabilities and the new regulation of playability. The discussion about these topics shows how much tanking influences the integrity of the league and which strategic considerations of teams such as the raptors are necessary to get out of this not easy phase.

The current situation of the Toronto Raptors is therefore not only used as an example of the challenges of tanking, but also for the larger structural problems within the NBA. The outcome of the current season as well as the upcoming draft elections should be crucial for the future of the team and his key player Jakob Pöltl.

Krone reports that the raptors together with other teams concentrate on one of the best picks in Draft 2025 while Clutchpoints illustrates the development and challenges of the team. Further analyzes on the problem and possible solutions can be found at .