With the NBA trade deadline approaching, several teams will be looking at San Antonio Spurs big man Jakob Poeltl. It makes sense for any contending teams to trade for him since he is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, which is something many teams, particularly in the Eastern Conference, will be seeking.
Let's take a look at three teams that might gain from Poeltl's addition to their roster.
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Jakob Poeltl NBA Trade Deadline
According to reports, the Chicago Bulls made an offer for Poeltl that included a first-round spick for San Antonio. This trade was apparently rejected by San Antonio, which makes sense. Chicago is clearly only looking to see if they can get him for the bare minimum, which San Antonio would not do given that they are in the midst of a rebuilding process and could use any asset they can obtain.
If the Bulls want to have any chance in the playoffs, they'd need an excellent rim protector, and Poeltl is one of the best in the league. The negative is that he doesn't have a particularly strong offensive game, which will almost certainly hamper the Bulls in the playoffs. Teams will purposefully foul him to put him on the free-throw line late in the game, as we witnessed last season with Ben Simmons.
If the Bulls find themselves in this circumstance, they will have to bench him, which is something they'll not want to do in the playoffs for one of their important players, as Poeltl would be.
The fact is that until they go out and get an exceptional rim protector, they will not be able to achieve the success that they desire. They will almost certainly face Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia Sixers. Both of these players are arguably the best in the world, and if they don't have anybody who can even come close to slowing them down, they'll get blasted by them, allowing their teams to win the series.
We witnessed on Sunday night that the Bulls had no answer for Joel Embiid, who was able to take control of the game. Despite DeMar DeRozan scoring nearly 50 points, Joel Embiid was able to match him and help Philadelphia win.
This is a unique situation since he would not be a good match for the Warriors' offense. Golden State must also recognize that if they don't get someone who can protect the rim, they will have a difficult time competing with the Phoenix Suns. When they play the Suns, they like to put Draymond Green at the five position and let him switch everything on the pick-and-roll that Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton always go to. If they were able to bring in a player like Jakob Poeltl, they would be able to obtain the rim protector that they sorely need and let Draymond switch everything with him.
The Golden State Warriors will have to consider this. They'll be having James Wiseman back shortly, and there's a high possibility they think he'll be a good fit for the job they're searching for. He's still a young kid, and it would be insane for Golden State to give up on him in order to attempt to win a championship this year, especially if they could still win one with him on the team.
Poeltl might be one of those players brought in to Golden State only to improve their title chances, but as previously said, his offensive game has certain flaws that could hurt Golden State in the future.
Despite their eight-game losing streak, the Brooklyn Nets are a squad capable of winning an NBA championship. They haven't looked great this season, and much of that is because of the turmoil and injuries that they have had to deal with at the top. Kevin Durant is now out for a lengthy period of time, James Harden missing games due to injuries, and Kyrie Irving still refusing to receive the vaccination. Everything that is going on in Brooklyn is obviously not what they had hoped for this season, but the fact is that if those three players stay healthy in the playoffs, they have a good chance of winning an NBA championship.
It's difficult to compare them to the Chicago Bulls, knowing that if those three players are healthy, they'll be better than the Bulls. There's no other way to describe it than Brooklyn has more talent than Chicago, and if Brooklyn stays healthy, they'll go further than Chicago. They won't need a rim protector if those three players stay healthy since they're already that good, but bringing in a player like Jakob Poeltl might surely assist this club.
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