As the NBA evolves into a game that places a premium on shooting and multi-faceted big men who are as comfortable 20 feet from the basket as they are in the paint, the Toronto Raptors have taken a gamble on a youngster who wants to fit that bill.
Jakob Poeltl, a seven-foot Austrian, may not have the greatest of range as a raw 20-year-old prospect but the Raptors saw enough promise in him to select him ninth in Thursday’s NBA draft.
Known now as good interior scorer, a quick-footed defender and a bundle of potential, the first Austrian drafted into the NBA knows where his game has to grow.