Is Jakob Poeltl a trade option for 76ers?
The Philadelphia 76ers are in a dogfight for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference. The team wants to secure one of those top four seeds and will look to improve at the upcoming trade deadline. The San Antonio Spurs are reportedly shopping starting center Jakob Poeltl as the team has the fourth-worst record in the NBA at the time of this writing. Poeltl’s value is beneficial to playoff teams needing depth at the backup center position, one of those playoff teams being the Sixers. Leading me to ask the question, is Jakob Poeltl a trade option for Philly?
The Sixers have struggled for many years and playoff rounds attempting to find a backup center to survive in the minutes when Joel Embiid gets to rest. “Bball” Paul Reed showed flashes of that last year in the series against the Miami Heat. For some reason, Reed hasn’t been given the chance to build upon his success. In slides Jakob Poeltl, as he stabilizes some of the jobs that a backup center would receive. Jakob Poeltl, in his age 29 season, is averaging 26.4 minutes per game, 12.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game.
Poeltl is a legitimate seven-footer, actually standing 7-foot-1. Poeltl can move well for a big man and rebound the ball. Poeltl’s rebounding would help the Sixers with their porous rebounding numbers this season. The framework of the trade is mainly a Sixers win. Daryl Morey loves to win trades and this one, if real, would be a beneficial one.
Hypothetical Sixers trade for Jakob Poeltl
The Spurs receive Montrezl Harrell, Furkan Korkmaz, Julian Champagnie, and a 2023 second-round via the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, or Brooklyn Nets. The draft pick is fairly invaluable as the second round of the NBA draft can be dodgy. San Antonio shouldn’t mind, as the team has 29 draft picks until 2029. Champagnie is still a young, 23 years old, potential backup two-way wing player standing at 6 feet 6 inches and is currently on a two-way contract.
As far as Harrell goes, he has not looked good for the most part but the effort is still there. The quality effort that a veteran like Harrell brings to the young Spurs team would be helpful along with his 5.8 points per game and 2.7 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. Korkmaz is another veteran type that can show the young guys on San Antonio to always stay ready and he has something to prove as a wing shooter in the NBA. Korkmaz is shooting 34.4 percent from the three-point line in only 10.5 minutes of action per game.
As I stated before, the trade would be a win for the Sixers. The team would be a seven-footer to the team. Poeltl’s presence would improve rim protection in the second team’s minutes, a big target as a roll man and lob threat, and a rebounding presence. Also, the team only gives up one of the three rumored trade pieces to move in Furkan Korkmaz.
It takes two to tango though. The Spurs are basically receiving one of the smallest amounts of value for a legitimate rotation player that could play on almost any team. The Spurs asking price for Poeltl is certainly out of the Sixers’ payscale. The team would be really lowering their standards to the absolute bottom for this move or they know how to unlock Furkan Korkmaz in a way 29 other teams never thought of. If this was NBA 2K this move would go through and not be sneezed at, but this is real life and that won’t happen. In conclusion, as someone on Fanspo commented on a post of this very trade, the Spurs will immediately hang up the phone if offered this.
