Raptor Center Jakob Poeltl underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in the fifth finger of his left hand, the team announced Tuesday evening in a press release.
The injury occurred in the second quarter of Sunday’s win over Charlotte.
The Raptors did not provide any sort of recovery timetable for Poeltl, simply stating that his status would be updated as appropriate.
Any type of finger surgery usually results in an absence of several weeks, and while the big man could end up being healthy enough to play before the end of the season, Toronto falls out of the playoff race and could just decide to stop it. .
After being eliminated at home by the Pelicans on Tuesday, the Raptors are 4.5 games back of the No. 10 seed in the East. They are also missing Scottie Barneswho suffered hand surgery earlier this week and might not be back until the end of the regular season.
Poeltl, who was acquired from San Antonio by the Raptors at the 2023 trade deadline, signed a four-year, $78 million contract with the club during the offseason.
In his first season with the Toronto team that originally drafted him in 2016, the 28-year-old averaged 11.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 26.4 minutes per match in 50 appearances (all starts).
The Raptors traded for another veteran center – Kelly Olynyk — at the deadline of this season and extended him this week, but this deal isn’t expected to have a real impact on Poeltl’s future in Toronto since the two big men have different skill sets.
While Olynyk excels at stretching the court, Poeltl serves as a pick-and-roll partner for the team’s guards and is more of a rim protector on defense.
