Jakob Poeltl – San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are looking to take their franchise in a new direction with their young talents, resulting in them likely missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year. It seems unlikely that they will be looking to move either Dejounte Murray or Derrick White right now, but Jakob Poeltl is definitely an interesting name to keep an eye on.
Poeltl signed a three-year, $26.2M deal with the Spurs before the start of last season and with one year left on his deal after this season, the 26-year-old big man has suddenly become an eyebrow raising trade target for some teams around the league.
In 12 games this season, Jakob Poeltl is averaging career-highs in points (12.5), rebounds (9.3), assists (2.0), field goals made per game (5.8) and field goal attempted per game (9.3). Poeltl is also shooting 63.1% from the floor and is averaging about 1.3 blocks per game.
The 7’1” big man has really carved out a key role in the Spurs rotation over the years and brings a lot of value to his team, hence why he could be a solid fit in Dallas.
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However, the Mavericks really do not need another big man as they are currently having trouble getting their centers minutes as it is!
Kristaps Porzingis, Dwight Powell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Moses Brown, Maxi Kleber and Boban Marjanovic make up the Dallas Mavericks’ frontcourt right now and adding Jakob Poeltl to this mess makes zero sense.
They could always move one or two of these guys listed above for Poeltl, but what does this really achieve? Jakob Poeltl is definitely a double-double threat, but they have that already with Porzingis and Poeltl does not give this team much defensively either.
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Jakob Poeltl is a really strong center that can definitely average a double-double over the course of a season, but the value he would bring to a team like the Mavericks is very minimal.
He is not the difference in this team winning a playoff series and given all the frontcourt depth they currently have, I am going to say “pass” on this one, especially given the Mavs’ financial hardships right now.
Verdict: Pass
