Raptors have spent big to lock in a team that might stink

29-year-old center Jakob Poeltl agreed to a four-year, $104M contract Sunday that will keep him in Toronto through the 2029-30 season. That deal comes on the heels of the Raptors giving Brandon Ingram $156M for four years in February, signing Immanuel Quickley for five years and $162.5M last summer and giving Scottie Barnes a full rookie max extension for five years and $234M.

That's a lot of long-term money for a team that hasn't been particularly good so far. Quickley missed significant time with injuries last season and the Raptors were highly-incentivized to lose games for lottery position late in the season, but they were still a highly-flawed team.

The biggest issue is that the team lacks shooting. Barnes is a nice passer who made the All-Star team in 2023-24, but he's a 30% career three-point shooter. RJ Barrett shoots 34.6% from deep for his career. Ingram is a solid scorer, but he shoots 36.3% from deep for his career. Gradey Dick has promise, but he shoots 35.6% behind the arc. Ochai Agbaji shot 40% from deep last season, but under 30% from long-range the season before. Quickley is the best shooter but he's not elite, shooting 37.5%  for his career.

Toronto seems to have a team that duplicates many qualities and lacks in others. Barrett, Barnes and Ingram all like playing with the ball in their hands. No. 9 pick in this year's draft, Collin Murray-Boyles, is a skilled, but non-shooting, power forward just like Barnes. Aside from Dick and Quickley, there are a lot of poor free-throw shooters. There's very little shot-blocking.

It's possible that this team becomes stronger defensively, with a roster full of long and rangy wings. Toronto could also trade Barrett, though he's owed over $57M the next two seasons. But right now, this team has a ton of questions, yet the core is locked in for at least three more seasons.

Perhaps Toronto's front office sees something that's not obvious in the statistics. Or perhaps longtime team president Masai Ujiri is getting out of "The Six" before this team becomes an expensive mediocrity.