Former Utes Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl finally breaking out in Toronto

Delon Wright struggled as an NBA rookie with the Toronto Raptors two years ago.

He wasn’t in a rotation for the first time in his playing career. Wright would call his father, Ray, as he accrued DNP’s on Dwane Casey’s bench. The two would talk about basketball, about life. The basketball message was always the same.

Stay ready. The opportunity will come. Be prepared to take advantage when it does.

The former Utah star, along with fellow former Utes star Jakob Poeltl, will make their returns to Salt Lake City when the Raptors take on the Utah Jazz on Friday night. Wright and Poeltl arrived in Canada a year apart, but their NBA journeys have been strikingly similar: First-round picks who had to wait their turns on a stacked roster.

Their times have come.

“I just felt like with it being my third year, the opportunity was going to have to come sooner or later,” Wright said. “I’ve been preparing for this opportunity all summer. It shows a lot of faith the organization has in the younger players. Guys are ready to step in and compete.”

Wright and Poeltl are regular rotation guys for the first time in their careers, two of the anchors on Toronto’s second unit. Wright, a 6-foot-5 point guard, is playing 24 minutes a game. He’s averaging 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game. He was a defensive star at Utah, and he’s doing the same for the Raptors.

Poeltl, a 7-0 center, has been just as impressive. He’s turning 20 minutes a game into eight points and 7.7 rebounds a game. He’s blocking 1.4 shots a game and has emerged as Toronto’s primary backup center.

The signs of the two breaking out were evident during summer league, when it became apparent the two had improved their games. The confidence has followed and translated into the regular season.

“I spent a lot of time with the Raptors over the summer,” Poeltl said. “They told me that I’ve got to be ready and there’s definitely minutes to be had. If we bring it over the summer, if we work on our games, there’s room for us young guys to play and step up, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Toronto’s core remains largely intact. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan remain one of the best backcourts in the league. Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valenciunas combine for a formidable frontcourt.

But the Raptors felt stagnant at the end of last season. They lost handily to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and they felt like they needed an infusion of young talent in their rotation.

So Toronto traded Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers, a move that cleared the way for Wright to become the primary backup at point guard. They allowed Poeltl to compete for minutes but didn’t promise him anything. They made him earn it.

So Poeltl worked tirelessly on his overall skillset. He took countless perimeter shots over the offseason in an effort to extend his range. He lived in the weight room and is stronger and more equipped to bang in the paint. He was always a dogged rebounder and defender. The added strength and conditioning have allowed him to show those attributes.

“The modern big in the NBA right now, I’ve got to be versatile,” Poeltl said. “I’ve got to be able to work on the outside, too. It was a really busy summer. We mostly worked on the new offense. We did a lot of shooting. I wanted to add new stuff to my game.”

Much of Wright’s and Poeltl’s improvement comes from the NBA game slowing down for them. Both were wide-eyed as rookies, trying to get a handle on what works and doesn’t at the pro level.

Wright had a lot to learn mentally, more than anything. He was so much bigger and faster than many of the point guards he faced in high school and college, so he could physically overwhelm his competition. He was forced to become more cerebral in the NBA.

Today, he’s still a point guard with very good physical gifts. But he sees the game better. He knows angles. He’s a better shooter. And he’s a much better player in pick and roll than he was as a rookie.

If the Raptors are going to take the next step and become Eastern Conference contenders, it will be people like Wright and Poeltl who make the difference. Toronto knows what to expect from its veteran core. But it’s the young guys and their development that ultimately will determine the ceiling for the Raptors.

“I feel like we have to kind of grow up pretty fast, step up pretty fast and kind of bridge that gap,” Wright said. “Being a smarter player, while also bringing that younger energy that the team needs.”