The Boston Celtics have been riding high for most of the 2022-23 season, and that continued on Wednesday night when they picked up a win over the Philadelphia 76ers despite being down to just one healthy regular starter in Jayson Tatum come the second half. However, they were dealt a less than ideal update on Jaylen Brown's face injury he picked up in this game, and watched one of their top trade targets in Jakob Poeltl get dealt to the Toronto Raptors shortly thereafter.
The Celtics have been looking to add another big man to their rotation throughout the season, and locked in on Poeltl, who is a solid two-way center who can do damage in the paint on both ends of the court. Poeltl's long-term fit with the team wasn't great, but that didn't stop the C's from going after him. Unfortunately, it looks like their offer got shot down by the San Antonio Spurs prior to their deal with the Raptors.
“League sources tell MassLive that Boston offered Payton Pritchard, Danilo Gallinari and multiple future second-round picks for the big man ahead of Thursday’s deal. Ultimately, the Spurs elected to go with the Raptors’ offer which included a top-6 protected first-round pick for 2024, two future second round picks and center Khem Birch.” – Brian Robb, MassLive
It's interesting to see that Boston is reportedly willing to move on from both Payton Pritchard and Danilo Gallinari at the deadline, but ultimately their offer wasn't close to matching the Raptors here. There's still time for Boston to pick up some more depth on their bench for the remainder of the season, though, and it will be worth keeping an eye on them to see who they set their sights on now that Jakob Poeltl is off the board.
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