NBA Rumors: Jakob Poeltl Traded to Raptors; Spurs Get 2024 1st-Round Pick and More
The San Antonio Spurs are trading veteran center Jakob Poeltl to the Toronto Raptors, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski reported San Antonio will receive Khem Birch, a protected 2024 first-round pick and two second-rounders.
The Raptors are 10th in the Eastern Conference at 26-30. Their record, coupled with the fact that Fred VanVleet can become a free agent in the offseason, led some to wonder whether Toronto might be a seller ahead of the trade deadline.
Instead, the front office clearly isn't ready to rebuild or even retool in a transitional year. Poeltl provides the size the Raptors desperately need after running 6'9" Pascal Siakam and 6'8" Precious Achiuwa out at center.
This move brings Poeltl back to Toronto after he was shipped out as part of the Kawhi Leonard/DeMar DeRozan trade in 2018.
Poeltl became the best big man on the trade market after the Indiana Pacers signed Myles Turner to a $60 million extension.
The 27-year-old has put together another solid season in San Antonio. Through 46 games, he's averaging 12.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.
Poeltl's offensive value is limited because he's a traditional center who doesn't space the floor, and he's not a high-volume scorer inside. His 31-point performance in a 117-110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 15 remains a career high.
The 7-footer has had a tangible impact on defense. He ranks 18th among centers in ESPN.com's real defensive plus-minus (plus-2.97), and he has held opponents to 61.5 percent shooting inside six feet, 3.2 percentage points worse than their usual average, per NBA.com.
Given the state of the the Spurs, Poeltl was a natural candidate to change teams before the deadline.
San Antonio is all but assured of missing the playoffs as it continues its rebuild, so the team didn't have a ton of use for an experienced big on an expiring deal.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Jan. 21 the Spurs were "telling teams that they hope to keep Poeltl despite the significant trade interest," which still felt more like posturing to maintain leverage.
The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes provided a clear incentive to go all in with tanking rather than re-signing Poeltl and possibly trading him at a later date, an approach the Detroit Pistons took with Bojan Bogdanović.
If you're San Antonio, you wouldn't want Poeltl's contributions to be the difference between finishing with the third-worst record and the fourth-worst, which would lessen your odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick.
For the Raptors, Poeltl doesn't significantly raise their ceiling, and his usage in the playoffs will probably fall because coaches have even more time to devise schemes to target opposing centers.
But there's a reason Toronto targeted him and was willing to meet the Spurs' asking price. Rim protection is a valuable commodity, and Poeltl has proved to be effective as both a reserve and a starter.
His presence provides head coach Nick Nurse with added scheme flexibility at the 5.
