Spurs re-sign center Poeltl to three-year deal.
When Jakob Poeltl was traded from Toronto to San Antonio in the summer of 2018, it read like a typical line on the NBA transaction wire.
To Poeltl, it felt a bit more personal. It felt like a hostage situation.
“My initial reaction was, I was a little disappointed,” Poeltl recalled Tuesday. “It’s not fun more or less against your will getting sent to a different team.”
It was no offense to the Spurs. Poeltl — like DeMar DeRozan, the other Toronto player to come south in the deal for Kawhi Leonard — was happy being a Raptor and did not want to leave.
Two years later, San Antonio has grown on Poeltl, the 7foot-1 center from Vienna.
He made as much official Tuesday, re-signing with the Spurs on a three-year, $27 million deal.
For the 24-year-old Poeltl, now a linchpin of the Spurs’ young core, his first career foray into free agency was a brief one.
“I was a little nervous going into it,” Poeltl said. “Even though it was a stressful time, I’m really excited about the outcome. I think I got a good deal from the Spurs, so I decided to take it.”
The new contract cements Poeltl as the Spurs’ probable starting center of the future. Whether that makes him the team’s starting center of the present remains to be seen.
When the Spurs returned from the fourmonth coronavirus hiatus in August, All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge did not. With Aldridge unavailable after shoulder surgery, Poeltl became the Spurs’ frontcourt anchor in Orlando, Fla.
Running with a newlook, guard-heavy starting unit in the NBA bubble, Poeltl averaged 8.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and1.4 blocks, and earned rave reviews for doing the dirty work necessary from the lone big man in a small-ball group.
Poeltl said he views his return as “an opportunity that has shown a lot of potential” in Orlando.
“It’s going to take some time,” Poeltl said. “We’re all aware of that. It’s going to take a lot of minutes of experience on the court, because it’s a totally different game. I think we’re up for the challenge.”
Aldridge, 35, is expected to be ready for the start of his sixth Spurs training camp next month.
If coach Gregg Popovich intends to roll out the same starting backcourt he used in Orlando — youngsters Dejounte Murray, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker IV — it will mean one of DeRozan, Aldridge or Poeltl will have to come off the bench.
If it comes down to total career All-Star appearances, Poeltl is likely the odd man out.
Without going into detail, Poeltl said part of his contract negotiations involved a discussion with Spurs management about his role beyond this season.
He views himself as a starter — if not immediately, then eventually.
“There was some conversations about my role and how the team is going to look in the future,” Poeltl said. “That was a big part of my decision as well. I wanted to be on a team where I felt comfortable and would get along and play well alongside my teammates.”
The Spurs on Tuesday also announced the resigning of backup fbig man Drew Eubanks, who committed to a three-year, $5.3 million deal, and secondyear point guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who re-upped on a second consecutive two-way deal.
But Poeltl’s return highlighted the day — and might end up being the apex of an overall quiet free agency period for the Spurs.
The ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Utah, Poeltl has started 42 of 143 games for the Spurs since the 2018 trade that brought him here.
He has averaged 5.6 points and 5.5 rebounds and last season led the team with 95 blocked shots.
Beyond the numbers, Poeltl fits well as a smallball big man, willing to set screens and finish pick and rolls and defend the paint on defense.
“My short-term goal is to grow my role and grow into a starting role,” Poeltl said.
“I think what we did in the bubble was the first signs of that — a young team where a lot of players had to share more responsibility than maybe we were used to.”
Ultimately, the promise of being part of the Spurs’ rebuilding project was enough to bring Poeltl back to San Antonio.
An NBA free agent market in which only four teams entered the offseason with significant salary cap space helped limit the interest Poeltl received elsewhere.
“I tried to go into free agency with an open mind and see what the Spurs would offer me and what the other possibilities are,” Poeltl said. “At the end of the day, I made a pretty quick decision because of what was on the table from the Spurs and the opportunities I thought I could get in the future. The whole package was right for me.”
In 2018, Poeltl couldn’t imagine playing in San Antonio. Two years later, he couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.