Possible Trade Destinations For Jakob Poeltl Ahead Of Trade Deadline

San Antonio Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl is a key name to watch ahead of the trade deadline this season.

Currently sitting near the bottom of the league standings and being a young team looking to develop for the future, many around the NBA believe that the San Antonio Spurs will be open to all trade discussions that come their way.

Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott are two veteran players on their roster that the team could look to leverage for draft assets and Jakob Poeltl is another intriguing name to watch.

Now in his fifth season with the Spurs, Poeltl has really carved out a role for himself as the team’s starting center and last season was a career-year for him, averaging 13.5 points (career-high), 9.3 rebounds (career-high) and 2.8 assists per game (career-high) while shooting 61.8 percent from the floor.

Poeltl also recorded 28 double-doubles in 68 games last season, tied for the 16th most in the entire league.

This season, Jakob Poeltl has continued to prove that he is a sustainable, “old-fashioned-style” big man in the paint that can be a double-double threat on a nightly basis.

The question pertaining to Poeltl though is not about his talent, but about his future in San Antonio. Will the Spurs look to move him ahead of the trade deadline?

Poeltl’s name has come up quite a bit in recent weeks about being a “gettable” big man on the trade block and with the Spurs having their eyes set on adding the best prospects they can in the 2023 NBA Draft, adding draft compensation for their center could be something the Spurs’ front-office finds intriguing.

In the final year of his contract and making $9.3 million, Jakob Poeltl is definitely a key name to keep tabs on ahead of the trade deadline and should the Spurs show a willingness to move on from him, Poeltl could end up with one of these three teams.

Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl joined the San Antonio Spurs ahead of the start of the 2018-19 season, as he was part of the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors.

This season, the Raptors find themselves as a franchise that many have eyes on trending towards the trade deadline and it would not be surprising to see Masai Ujiri and Toronto’s front-office make a handful of moves.

Poeltl is a player they really liked, which is why they initially drafted him ninth overall in 2016, and adding a key big man next to Pascal Siakam is something the Raptors have had interest in for quite a while now, as they pursued names like Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis in recent years.

Whether they look to trade for Poeltl straight-up or look to get another team involved to move guys like Gary Trent Jr. or O.G. Anunoby, there is still internal interest in Jakob Poeltl for the Raptors.

The problem with Toronto pursuing the San Antonio big man though is that the Spurs are going to want draft picks, something the Raptors don’t really want to give up right now given their position in the Eastern Conference.

Currently the worst defensive rebounding team in the league and a bottom-ten rebounding team as a whole, Toronto needs some help on the interior.

The Raptors are in a tough position as a franchise and what moves they make ahead of this season’s trade deadline will spell out what the future holds for them.

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic is having an MVP season and the Dallas Mavericks are coming off a run to the Western Conference Finals last season.

They are currently 23-18 and have the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, but the Mavericks are still lacking size on the interior outside Christian Wood. Not to mention, Dallas has been a very inconsistent rebounding team all season long, as they rank last in the league in rebounds per game.

Jakob Poeltl would instantly make an impact for this team not only in pick-and-roll situations, but in terms of limiting second-chance opportunities for Dallas’ opponents.

He currently ranks 17th in the league in rebounding this season and Poeltl has proven to be a strong interior finisher on offense, as he is shooting a career-best 64.4 percent from the floor.

There is not only talk about Tim Hardaway Jr. possibly being on the move from Dallas at the trade deadline this season, but Davis Bertans, Dwight Powell and JaVale McGee are also possibilities to be dealt should the Mavericks be upgrading their roster.

The Mavericks are definitely a team that will be looking to make moves ahead of the trade deadline and if things fall their way, Jakob Poeltl could absolutely be someone they target.

Washington Wizards

Much like the Raptors, the Washington Wizards are a team that nobody really knows what to expect from.

Bradley Beal just signed a massive extension, but his future continues to be brought up from time-to-time, Kyle Kuzma may be in his final season with the team given that he is likely to opt out of his contract at the conclusion of the season and Washington has really never had steady play from their frontcourt.

Daniel Gafford has not played bad for them, nor has former All-Star Kristaps Porzingis, but adding another interior presence to this team could instantly make the Wizards a Top-10 rebounding team in the league and someone like Jakob Poeltl could give this team enough firepower to make a playoff push in the Eastern Conference.

The Wizards also have some decisions to make regarding Kuzma’s future and that of Will Barton, as Barton is in the final year of his contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the year.

Rui Hachimura is another player this team could look to trade given that he is set to become a restricted free agent in the summer.

Washington has some big roster decisions to make and in the process of unloading some contracts, they could also look to bring in a “one-year rental” type of player like Poeltl, who they would not have long-term money tied down to. 

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