The Toronto Raptors opened the season in emphatic fashion, blasting the rebuilding Chicago Bulls 132-95 and getting major contributions from the top of the lineup. Immanuel Quickley set the tone as a scorer, while Scottie Barnes, Kawhi Leonard, and RJ Barrett all finished in the 20-plus-point club.
Jakob Poeltl did his job in the box score, but the night still left questions behind. He finished with 3 points on 1-of-1 shooting and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes, staying in his lane offensively and making himself the fifth priority in the attack. He ran the floor, set solid screens, and offered the kind of post presence Toronto can live with.
The offensive part was fine. The concern was everything else.
Even against a Bulls frontcourt that should have been easy to handle, Poeltl didn’t consistently look in control on the interior. Chicago was without Nic Claxton and used a center rotation of Jalen Smith, Zach Collins, and a rotating cast of long forwards at the five, yet Poeltl still had stretches where he looked outmatched or unsure defensively.
Rebounding was the biggest red flag. Chicago grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, and nine came while Poeltl was on the floor.
That number does need some context: midway through the third quarter, the Bulls inserted Toby Awaka, an explosive rookie with a nose for the glass. That’s not really a fair matchup to pin on Poeltl.
The tougher part comes against Jalen Smith. Smith is not a second-jump monster and is probably more undersized than ideal for an NBA center, but Poeltl still failed to put a body on him several times.
Too often, Toronto’s issues with second-chance points came back to poor positioning, soft hands, and a lack of physicality. In the first quarter especially, he looked unsure of where his man was when shots went up.
That’s where the concern sits. Poeltl is not a power center, and he’s always had to win with smarts more than brute force.
But through preseason and now opening night, he hasn’t looked as sharp as he used to. Those lapses in awareness and in simply knowing where to be can’t be a habit if Toronto wants to contend.
The defensive issues showed up in other ways too. He got tangled up in screen-and-roll coverage and looked lost at times against a Bulls offense that never really found a rhythm. Early in the game, his basketball IQ just didn’t pop the way it usually does.
To his credit, the game did settle down for him. After that first quarter, he became much more serviceable and settled into his role. Over the full 21 minutes, both his rebounding and defense improved.
Still, Chicago is the kind of team that couldn’t fully take advantage of those rough patches. Better opponents will.
It’s one game, and Toronto won it comfortably, but Poeltl’s night is worth keeping an eye on. The first real test comes Friday against a Wizards frontcourt featuring both Alex Sarr and what looks like a rejuvenated Anthony Davis.
In Other News...
Allen Graves Had A Very Toronto Moment Before His NBA Debut
Allen Graves first night in the NBA came with all the Toronto trimmings. In his debut against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 21, the Raptors rookie chipped in five points, five rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes, but what stood out just as much was the setting around him. Graves called the experience of playing in front of a sold-out crowd and hearing the national anthem a significant moment, the kind of arrival that makes a debut feel bigger than a box score.
And for a player taking his first professional steps, Toronto supplied a scene he wont forget soon. Drake was courtside, adding another unmistakably local layer to the night, and Graves said he felt the support of family and friends after the game. For a rookie trying to settle into the league, it was a reminder that his first NBA memory in this city came with plenty of noise, attention and the sort of atmosphere that makes Toronto feel different from anywhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Face An Early Road Test Their Defense Can't Fake
The Raptors are about to get their first road test of the season in Washington, and it arrives with a chance to find out a lot about how real their early defensive promise is. The Wizards have reshaped their roster with the kind of veteran help that can steady a young group, bringing in Anthony Davis and Trae Young to support their younger players, which makes this more than a simple early-season stop. Torontos defense has looked sharp enough to invite optimism, but road games tend to expose whether that edge travels or gets softened by unfamiliar surroundings.
Washington will also be short-handed, with AJ ruled out, which removes another layer from a matchup already built around questions about depth and consistency. For Toronto, the interest is less about the prediction and more about how the team handles a setting where effort and discipline matter just as much as talent. If the Raptors can carry their defensive identity into this one, it would say something meaningful about where this group stands before the schedule gets any less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Draft Miss Just Raised A Bigger Question For Toronto
Torontos 2023 lottery swing on Gradey Dick was always going to be judged by more than just what happened on draft night. The appeal was obvious at the time: a polished shooter coming out of college, the kind of skill set that can look like a clean fit for almost any roster. But once that shooting proved harder to carry over to the NBA, and Dick was eventually moved to the LA Clippers, it left the Raptors with a familiar front-office question to wrestle with about how much weight to put on one elite trait.
Allen Graves has added another layer to that discussion ahead of the 2026 draft. He is viewed as a more versatile prospect, which makes him look like the sort of player Toronto may value more highly now than it did when it bet on shooting first. For a team still sorting out how to build its next core, the real issue is not just whether Graves can help, but whether the Raptors have already learned enough from the Dick pick to change how they evaluate the next one. [Read more 🡒]