Report: Spurs’ Jakob Poeltl receiving ‘a lot of interest’ on trade market

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So far, the run-up to the trade deadline has been quiet. Many more teams are buyers than sellers (thanks to the play-in changing the dynamic), which has led the handful of sellers to keep their prices high. There’s been smoke, but no real fires yet on the trade market.

One guy who could be on the move: Spurs center Jakob Poeltl. He is drawing a lot of interest from teams, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown Saturday.

“There’s a lot of interest in Poeltl and there are a lot of teams, I think, for San Antonio they’re going to make the kind of offers that they may want to move him…

“But if you’re San Antonio and you win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes he makes perfect sense in the middle with wembayama at the four. So I think for San Antonio, you saw him do it with Dejounte Murray… They got an overwhelming offer from Atlanta, they moved him. I think you’re going to see at the trade deadline some real significant offers. A lot of teams want size.”

One of the challenges in trading for Poeltl is the team that lands him then needs to pay up and re-sign him next summer. Poeltl is making $9.4 million this season, below his market value, and that lower salary means the most the Spurs (or any team that trades for him) can offer right now is a four-year, $58 million extension. He will get more than that in free agency this summer, and any team that trades for him will have to pay enough to keep him.

Poeltl averages 11.9 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, plus he plays solid defense in the paint — he can help a lot of teams, especially ones with stretch fours, or could use size when looking ahead to potential playoff matchups against quality centers. Of course, as Woj notes, the Spurs could be one of those teams with a quality stretch four next season, so what do they want to do come the deadline.

Expect a lot more Poeltl rumors between now and Feb. 9.

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Report: Spurs’ Jakob Poeltl receiving ‘a lot of interest’ on trade market originally appeared on NBCSports.com