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Jakob Poeltl may not be the sexiest name being mentioned in rumors ahead of the NBA trade deadline, but the San Antonio Spurs center has garnered serious attention. Count the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards as two potential suitors.
The Spurs big man has solidified himself as a reliable presence in the paint which both East teams seem to covet, according to NBA insider Marc Stein in his latest Substack entry.
The Raptors are especially interesting considering how many view them as potentially one of the biggest sellers come NBA trade deadline. For them to turn around and re-acquire their former lottery pick would be a puzzling win-now move indeed.
“Further complicating matters when trying to assess Toronto’s intentions: There were some fresh rumbles this week that it had explored packaging Trent and some level of draft compensation to San Antonio for Spurs center Jakob Poeltl. That's a move you would make to try to move up the Eastern Conference ladder — not down. The Raptors, for the record, don’t seem to mind the confusion they’re generating.”
The Wizards would also be a rather lukewarm landing spot for him considering they already have a 7'3″ big man in Kristaps Porzingis and a stretch four in Kyle Kuzma. With Washington firmly a notch below most of the East's elite, adding Poeltl seems like a middling move at best. But hey, the Spurs would take a trade if the price was right.
“After frequent mentions in recent weeks of Boston and Toronto coveting the Spurs’ center, sources say Washington is another team that has registered interest in Poeltl. There did not appear to be a deal match between the Wizards and Spurs as of Wednesday morning, but Poeltl remains one of the key figures to watch in terms of needle-movers at this time.”
