Last night, Spurs inside Jakob Poeltl learned of his transfer to Toronto. After five years in San Antonio, JP returns to his original franchise, which he left when he was young when Kawhi Leonard traded to Canada. For Spurs, this trade is part of a franchise reconstruction project.
The news was virtually eclipsed. With the 3-way trade that took place last night between the Lakers, the Jazz and the Wolves, followed a few hours later by the KD bomb to the Suns, the transfer of Jakob Poeltl to the Raptors fell by the wayside but it is yet far from insignificant. The trade back includes Khem Birch and the Dinos’ 2024 first-round pick. Only tenth from the East, the Raptors hope to grab a place in the Playoffs and the arrival of the interior will, among other things, relieve Pascal Siakam, who is having an almost All-Star season but who would no doubt like to breathe from time to time.
For the Spurs, on the other hand, the announcement of the trade aims at two things: to make sure to have the most fired up team in the league to guarantee the highest probability of recovering Victor Wembanyama in the Draft, but also to store as many rounds of drafts as possible, the ultimate goal being to ensure a slow but certain reconstructionwhich will allow San Antonio to regain the path of competitiveness within a few years.
The Toronto Raptors are acquiring San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl for Khem Birch, a protected 2024 first-round draft pick and two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/9Iz7KFCd20
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
The interior is therefore packing its bags following 5 years of good and loyal service for the Spurs who, in the meantime, have definitively placed themselves in the category of slammed teams. At the time, the trade that sent Jakob Poeltl to Spurs also included DeMar DeRozan, and served as a bargaining chip for the precious Kawhi Leonard, which allowed the Raptors to claim the 2019 title. After only one season, the sophomore was transferred to a team where he was able to express his talent until becoming, by periods, the most constant player of his crew. This year the interior was running almost double-double average, with 12 points and 9 rebounds on average, 62% shooting, the kind of production that will do the greatest good to Dinos in need of real interiors.
Toronto is moving, and it should even move once more tonight since OG Anunoby has packed his suitcase and is just waiting for his destination to take off. The trade deadline is at 9 p.m., and it’s already very, very hot in the offices.
