Celtics Competing Offer for Jakob Poeltl Revealed

The Boston Celtics were competing with the Toronto Raptors to acquire San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl ahead of Thursday's trade deadline

All Raptors Staff | Feb 9, 2023

Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

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It appears as though the Toronto Raptors edged out the Boston Celtics to land Jakob Poeltl early Thursday morning.

Toronto ultimately finalized the deal with the San Antonio Spurs, sending Khem Birch, a top-six protected first-round pick in 2024, a 2023 second-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick to the Spurs for the 27-year-old center, as HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported.

Had it not been Toronto's deal, the Celtics were reportedly offering Payton Pritchard, Danilo Gallinari, and multiple second-round picks, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.

"Boston was unlikely to be able to top the Raptors’ offer even if they added in a first-round pick due to the value of that potential pick being deemed lower than Toronto’s future selection due to Boston’s promising long-term outlook," Robb reported.

Boston and Toronto were the only teams mentioned as possible landing spots for Poeltl ahead of the trade deadline and it's unclear if anyone else was willing to move a first-round pick for the 7-foot-1 Austrian.

It's a steep price for the Raptors to have paid considering the team is four games below .500 and has the ninth-worst record in the NBA.

Toronto's protections on that 2024 first-round pick will roll over as a top-six protected pick in 2025 and 2026, per Scotto.

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