Jakob Poeltl bafflingly and publicly acknowledges Raptors will be tanking in 2024-25 at media day

Toronto Raptors veteran Jakob Poeltl did not mince his words on where the Raptors are heading into the 2024-25 season.

In fact, while speaking to the press during NBA Media Day, he outright admitted that they weren't playing for a championship this upcoming season.

"Has to be a long-term project," Poeltl told the media. "I think we all know we are not going to attack the championship this year. It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development."

Raptors have goals in the 2024-25 season

It's a sad reality for the Toronto Raptors. They spent the better half of the last decade atop the Eastern Conference, competing for a chance to win a championship during the Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan era. They eventually got over the hump in 2019, thanks to a little help from Kawhi Leonard; however, since then, they haven't found much postseason success.

Last season, they officially hit the reset button, trading two-time All-Star Pascal Siakiam to the Indiana Pacers and OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks, ending any hope of the team remaining competitive.

Despite this, the Raptors have a franchise cornerstone in all-star Scottie Barnes. He came into his own last season averaging 19.9 points, 6.1 assists, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals and got the first All-Star nod of his career.

They still have a fun mix of young talent and veteran leadership like Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, Grady Dick, along with Poeltl, of course, who played nine seasons and the NBA, spending most of it in Toronto with the Raptors.

Considering that the 2025 NBA draft is loaded to the brim with talent, this year, they shouldn't concern themselves with wins and losses rather than player development, and Poeltl made this clear, stating their intentions are building for the future.

"We have a good plan for the future, our mindset and energy in the locker room is positive…this situation that we have overall is a positive one, that's why it makes sense for me to be here…we don't need to win every game to have a positive outlook on the end of the season."