Veteran center Jakob Poeltl remains out indefinitely due to a lower back strain, the Raptors announced on Sunday (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca).
Poeltl, who returned to Toronto on Thursday to visit a back specialist, recently received targeted pain relief treatment, per the team. His status will be updated when he returns to practice, but there’s no timeline for his return.
Poeltl has been managing the back issue since training camp and has missed 17 straight contests. Overall, he has been sidelined for 26 of Toronto’s 47 games due to the injury.
The Raptors have gone 13-8 with the Austrian big man in the lineup this season and hold a 15-11 record when Poeltl has been unable to suit up. Toronto is currently 28-19, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
While Darko Rajakovic expressed confidence last month that Poeltl’s back injury wasn’t a long-term concern, the 30-year-old has only made one brief appearance since Toronto’s head coach made those comments.
Poeltl started to ramp up his activity a couple weeks ago and was cleared for contact work, but his recovery progress reportedly “stalled,” as he was still dealing with back discomfort.
In 21 appearances this season, Poeltl has averaged 9.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals in 25.3 minutes per game. All of those statistics are down compared to 2024/25, when he averaged 14.5 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.2 SPG and 1.2 BPG in 29.6 MPG (57 games).
The Raptors don’t have a traditional backup center on their roster, having instead relied on Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili to man the middle with Poeltl out. Lottery pick Murray-Boyles, who has missed the past three games due to a left thumb contusion, is questionable for Sunday’s game in Oklahoma City.
Oh dear
back injury can end some careers. Raptors now will be looking for a center and now their prices have gone up.
Unfortunately, even without injury that is one of the worst contracts in the league right now