Should the Boston Celtics look around the market for an added frontcourt enforcer, Jakob Poeltl has to be kept an eye on.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst in his Hoop Collective podcast, the San Antonio Spurs center is being speculated by many as a potential target for the Celtics to bolster their big man depth who can defend.
“The question is does this team need to go out and get another big man who can defend,” Windhorst said. “The name that has come up as people have speculated is Jakob Poeltl from the Spurs. (Boston) did a deal with the Spurs last year for Derrick White.”
The Celtics made a splash last season by gaining White from the Spurs, who currently performs spectacularly on the minutes alloted by Joe Mazzulla on him.
As was pointed out by Windhorst, both Poeltl and San Antonio failed to reach a contract extension last offseason, which makes him an unrestricted free agent once the season ends. But the franchise may land an effort in order to retain him.
“The Spurs may want to keep Jakob Poeltl but they were unable to extend Poeltl,” Windhorst added. “They tried to extend him before the season so he will become an unrestricted free agent. They have the lowest payroll in the league and maybe they will (pay him) at the end of the season.”
With Rob Williams still recovering and needing some time and reduced minutes once he returns, adding Poeltl could be an enticing scenario for the Cs. Giving Al Horford a much-needed breather with the veteran big man on their side can only be beneficial once the postseason starts for them.
Now, it only boils down to the Spurs’ asking price and their willingness to part ways with Poeltl, who is earning $9.4MM this last season of his deal.
So far, Boston can’t hit the panic button yet as they lead the Eastern Conference standings. But if they wish to really increase their odds to be back on the NBA Finals and win that 18th banner, tapping Poeltl is not a bad consideration.
