Will Poeltl be traded?

[ConSarnit]

MEM: just dumped Adams. Why are they going to bring in Poeltl or offer anything good for him?

Memphis is a potential fit. Adams had a major injury and missed the entire year. I think their expectations are to bounce back strong with a healthy Ja and seriously compete. JJJ clearly needs somebody beside him to do the dirty work, he doesn't box out or rebound to save his life and Aldama isn't the answer. They're over cap so the trade market is their best option to fill that spot.

Despite some obvious delusional stans around here, Poelt is not an upgrade for most teams - he is a lower tier starting C. Teams like Dallas, LAC, Orlando or Phoenix are not giving up substantial assets for marginal (at best) improvement. If Poeltl is so great, why does he get played off the floor so easily?

MEM could be a landing spot but it seems like Adams was done as a salary dump, so I would put the odds at low. MEM is facing a salary crunch and might be looking for a cheaper option at C, especially if JJJ is going to play there more often. I don't really know what their appetite is for paying the tax but if they bring in Poeltl they will be paying it for sure.

[Mr Funk]

Please don't pay attention to Brad Fay

He doesn't know anything about anything. Brad Fay will often say the dumbest stuff on-air in futile attempts to get attention or to stir the pot, as the guy is a total bland and boring on-air personality with zero substance or talent.

Regardless, we're super vulnerable and weak at the five, so for the time being there's no way we're trading Poeltl, even if we get the #1 pick and draft Sarr. And whenever Poeltl might be traded, we really need to have a solid centre rotation lined up as we've seen how horrid we are without one.

[ConSarnit]

DAL: good chance Lively is in the same C tier as Poeltl next year, so why are they going to give up anything good for Poeltl?

Dallas is in Win Now mode. What you expect is to be Lively good now, which he isnt. He is just better as everything else they have. Poeltl is a clear upgrade over him.

DET/CHA: invested in Duren and Williams. Aren’t going to pivot until those guys fail.

They havent been on my list, cause they arent competing.

MEM: just dumped Adams. Why are they going to bring in Poeltl or offer anything good for him?

Cause Adams had a knee injury and they had a throw away season. Poeltl is in his prime and is a great defender.
Ofc Mem is not the first adress i think of, but i see the appeal.

PHX: has literally nothing to offer

We were talking about interest, not what is likely to happen. Just Remember what the Lakers managed to do last year at the Deadline.

ATL: Capela and Okongwu. Poeltl is a marginal upgrade at best.

Just shows how little you understand the C position. He is clearly better than both of them, without question.

LAL: it’s clear that AD is a full time C now because his shooting has abandoned him and Lebron is also pretty much a full time PF. Also aren’t going to use one of their few remaining draft assets on a player of Poeltl’s ilk.

I am not the general Manager of the Lakers, so i dont know what they are willing to give up or not. What i know is, that they would be happy to have a good C in the middle to limit ADs Exposure on that position.

LAC: Poeltl is not an upgrade over Zubac. Poeltl is a better passer and Zubac is a better rim protector.
Other than that it’s a wash.

Let Poeltl play with the same guys as Zubac does and you will see the difference. And no, Zubac is not a better rim protector. Its just easier to do it, when your teammates are able to stand infron of their man and you dont have to help all the time like Poeltl has to.

ORL: WCJ is in the same tier as Poeltl and is on a cheap contract. Zero reason for them to pursue Poeltl to pair with Franz and Paolo where the spacing is already poor (offense is Orlando’s biggest issue).

Poeltl would be better than anything they have right now, yes better than WCJ. Sometimes Hype over certain players cloud the judgement.

Per your equivalent statement: why would any of those teams give up anything for Poeltl to make a lateral move?

The main point: the market for Poeltl is not good. He’s a solid starting C in a league filled with them. The teams that he could upgrade already have a young C they are running with or they are rebuilding and have no need for Poeltl.

You have to give more thought about this. This isn’t an attack on Poeltl. You’re completely ignoring context and specific team situations. Ask yourself why 25 teams in the league would give up anything of real value for Poeltl? They have no incentive to.

I have mentionend 11 Teams, where he is an upgrade. I have said that there are more teams that he would not be worse. And i have only included Play-IN/Offs teams. A market where potentially 15 teams could improve with Poeltl, thats not a bad market, it is a good market.

Instead of beeing stubborn of your own thought, try to understand what Poeltl actually brings to the floor.
The Drop Off with him off the court, than with him on the court was glaring this year. That alone should have made you think twice. Raptors season ended when Poeltl went down in January. He is the Most Important Player of the Raptors right now. Yes we build around Barnes, but sometimes the Roleplayers have a skillset that cant be replaced and it hurts the team overall.
Teams in the League know that and crave for those Players.

I understand that everything is Hype and Flash and Poeltl is neither. But sometimes i wish, there would be more emphasis on what actually is the product and not the package.

No offense, but I just can't continue a conversation with you. You keep talking about upgrades, which is not the premise of the thread. The premise is would you trade Poeltl for picks or prospects. Teams like ATL and ORL are not going to add anything of substance in a Poeltl trade, which is the entire point of trading him. OF COURSE TEAMS WOULD BE WILLING TO HAVE A CENTER LIKE POELTL. THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE. THE ISSUES IS RETURN. What's the point of trading Poeltl is we can't get anything of real value back?

[ConSarnit]

Houston just finished 41-41. They are going to want to get even better. Poeltl > Adams

Sengun and Poeltl would be the best C duo in the league. If Houston decides to move off Sengun due to poor fit with Green or suspect defense, they then have a starting C already on the roster.

Houston has every incentive to get as good as possible with their draft picks heading to OKC in 2025 (swap) and 2026.

1) how many teams are spending $20m on a positionally locked backup C? Especially one who can’t play with their starter because neither can shoot. HOU is going to trade for Poeltl to play him 16mpg? How does that make sense?

2) HOU hasn’t even seen Adams play. They aren’t going to trade him until they see if he’s healthy.

C is not an issue for Houston. They can play Sengun, Adams and Smith Jr in small ball lineups. They aren’t going to pay $20m for a 15mpg backup and they definitely aren’t going to pay good assets to do so. They can also opt in Landale for $8m who has been playing fine for them.

Houston are in a great place financially whereby they can afford the luxury of a C like Poeltl making $19.5m off the bench.

Poeltl is better than Adams before Adams knee injury at 30.

C is not an issue. However if they decide to throw in Sengun to get a superstar or decide they don’t want to pay him or they feel their team is better without him, they have options with Poeltl.

Most of the ideas in these forums have hardly any chance of happening. I would include trading Poeltl in that category and definitely a trade to specifically Houston. You have solid reasons for why he wouldn’t get traded there. I think a solid argument can be made for why they’d trade for him. You obviously disagree…I’m gonna go cry now lol

Your contention as to why HOU wants Poeltl can apply to any team. If any team trades their C then maybe they'll want Poeltl! This in itself should be an indicator of why Poeltl doesn't have many suitors around the league: you have to make up scenarios in which a team trades it's best player so that they'll maybe want Poeltl. We have to try and be at least realistic here.

Nobody wants to play $20m for a positionally locked C to come of their bench. No one.

[Childs]

Until we find a stable big man. Lost one to blood clots and another to gambling concerns.

[Scase]

I thought it was only the hardest of tWo members who gave serious thought to trading Poeltl. In the last couple of days, Brad Fay on the last Raptors pre-game show of the season with Sherman Hamilton mentioned the possibility that Poeltl could be a trade chip. Then I came across this click bait piece on top NBA off-season trade targets:

5. Jakob Poeltl, Toronto Raptors

The center position is back and better than ever in the NBA, and that means teams need starting caliber centers that can guard elite big men like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. Jakob Poeltl has the size, strength, and rim-protection ability to hold his own against the NBA's elite offensive centers.

While he lacks some as a scorer, play-finishing centers with the ability to protect the paint are in demand, and Jakob Poeltl seems like a prime candidate to be traded this offseason. Last offseason, Poeltl signed a four-year extension that can keep him in Toronto until 2027, but a lot can/has changed over the course of one season.

Since last offseason, the Raptors have gone into full rebuild mode, and that meant they traded a number of their best players in order to get younger and add draft capital. Toronto may view Poeltl as a building block to keep for the next era, but it would also make a lot of sense to trade the big man and add to their future.

The Raptors lost 19 of their last 21 games, so it has become clear that the roster as is will not be able to compete for the playoffs, and Poeltl would likely be their best trade chip this offseason. Additionally, it was reported last year that Poeltl did not want to be on a rebuilding team (via Adam Laskaris of dailyhive.com), meaning it wouldn't come as a surprise if the center was to demand a trade this offseason. If he were to, he would be one of the best trade targets for center-needy NBA teams.

https://clutchpoints.com/nba-trade-targets-2024-offseason

I’m not giving the Clutch Points article any credibility. There are no legit sources there, similar to when everyone and their dog thought trading Siakam for #7 and #14 in 2021 was a real possibility, when in fact it was an analyst floating a trade idea. But it does highlight that those looking from the outside see Poeltl as a possible trade target.

There is no question, trading Poeltl could be a sign of waving the white flag on the 2024-2025 season. However, Poeltl has said he has no desire to be a part of a team seeking a top pick. From the Raptors perspective he was brought in to be a part of a core that included FVV, OG, and Pascal who are all now gone.

Assuming Poeltl is traded for actual assets (prospects and/or picks) and not just a salary dump, would you trade him?

My hopes is yes, because as you said, that indicates waving the white flag for next year. Which I think most people can agree that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to add a top 5 pick to this core.

My ideal trade partner, and the one I was hoping for all year, was OKC. So if they flame out against a big man, or even make it to playing against Jokic, it will make it pretty obvious that Chet is never going to be that C banging down low. OKC has tons of prospects and picks that would massively accelerate our rebuild, and they genuinely need a C like Jak.

A trade with OKC to me would be akin to the Knicks trade very likely to be a win-win.

Couple this with his comments shortly after he was traded here, and his more recent comments in the post season presser. It doesn't sound like this is the situation he wants to be in, and I don't blame him. He could definitely play very good minutes for a deep playoff team/contender.

[WiggOuts]

There's no way they trade Jak. There's been a lot of scrutiny around what we gave up to get him that trading him would be a nail in the coffin of defeat

[Duffman100]

The good news is that Poeltl really is on a value contract considering it's 19.5 flat.

[SFour]

I don't see any team offering good enough of a trade offer for the Raptors to let go of Poeltl.

[ArthurVandelay]

1) how many teams are spending $20m on a positionally locked backup C? Especially one who can’t play with their starter because neither can shoot. HOU is going to trade for Poeltl to play him 16mpg? How does that make sense?

2) HOU hasn’t even seen Adams play. They aren’t going to trade him until they see if he’s healthy.

C is not an issue for Houston. They can play Sengun, Adams and Smith Jr in small ball lineups. They aren’t going to pay $20m for a 15mpg backup and they definitely aren’t going to pay good assets to do so. They can also opt in Landale for $8m who has been playing fine for them.

Houston are in a great place financially whereby they can afford the luxury of a C like Poeltl making $19.5m off the bench.

Poeltl is better than Adams before Adams knee injury at 30.

C is not an issue. However if they decide to throw in Sengun to get a superstar or decide they don’t want to pay him or they feel their team is better without him, they have options with Poeltl.

Most of the ideas in these forums have hardly any chance of happening. I would include trading Poeltl in that category and definitely a trade to specifically Houston. You have solid reasons for why he wouldn’t get traded there. I think a solid argument can be made for why they’d trade for him. You obviously disagree…I’m gonna go cry now lol

Your contention as to why HOU wants Poeltl can apply to any team. If any team trades their C then maybe they'll want Poeltl! This in itself should be an indicator of why Poeltl doesn't have many suitors around the league: you have to make up scenarios in which a team trades it's best player so that they'll maybe want Poeltl. We have to try and be at least realistic here.

Nobody wants to play $20m for a positionally locked C to come of their bench. No one.

The difference is there have already been whispers of a Sengun trade possibility.

Realistic? Go duck yourself. It’s a forum for discussion with all sorts of possibilities explored.

[JB7]

MEM: just dumped Adams. Why are they going to bring in Poeltl or offer anything good for him?

Memphis is a potential fit. Adams had a major injury and missed the entire year. I think their expectations are to bounce back strong with a healthy Ja and seriously compete. JJJ clearly needs somebody beside him to do the dirty work, he doesn't box out or rebound to save his life and Aldama isn't the answer. They're over cap so the trade market is their best option to fill that spot.

Despite some obvious delusional stans around here, Poelt is not an upgrade for most teams - he is a lower tier starting C. Teams like Dallas, LAC, Orlando or Phoenix are not giving up substantial assets for marginal (at best) improvement. If Poeltl is so great, why does he get played off the floor so easily?

Keep in mind, Memphis will have a high draft pick this year, and could draft Clingan. Memphis is going to have an expensive roster next year, and they probably don't want another $20M contract. It was part of the reason they moved Adams, who worked so well in their starting lineup.

[ArthurVandelay]

Please don't pay attention to Brad Fay

He doesn't know anything about anything. Brad Fay will often say the dumbest stuff on-air in futile attempts to get attention or to stir the pot, as the guy is a total bland and boring on-air personality with zero substance or talent.

Regardless, we're super vulnerable and weak at the five, so for the time being there's no way we're trading Poeltl, even if we get the #1 pick and draft Sarr. And whenever Poeltl might be traded, we really need to have a solid centre rotation lined up as we've seen how horrid we are without one.

I think it is unlikely, sadly, but being awful without Poeltl or another C would be the point.

[Scase]

Please don't pay attention to Brad Fay

He doesn't know anything about anything. Brad Fay will often say the dumbest stuff on-air in futile attempts to get attention or to stir the pot, as the guy is a total bland and boring on-air personality with zero substance or talent.

Regardless, we're super vulnerable and weak at the five, so for the time being there's no way we're trading Poeltl, even if we get the #1 pick and draft Sarr. And whenever Poeltl might be traded, we really need to have a solid centre rotation lined up as we've seen how horrid we are without one.

I think it is unlikely, sadly, but being awful without Poeltl or another C would be the point.

We've (due to no fault of his own) been awful with him as well, our record skews extremely heavily towards only beating sub .500 teams. If anything it just makes the tank even easier, sprinkle in some random injuries over the course of the year, and bobs your uncle, you're in the bottom 5.

[ciueli]

I don't know how anyone can think Houston would even consider trading Sengun, he just came off a season where it's arguable he put up a better statline than Scottie and he's a year younger. Teams don't trade guys like that, full stop.

If the argument is that Houston went on a big winning streak after he got injured, it should be noted that most of the teams they beat on that streak were bad teams (Utah 2x, San Antonio, Washington 2x, Chicago, Portland), the only good teams they beat were Cleveland without Evan Mobley (Cleveland couldn't buy a 3 that game) and OKC with no SGA.

Additionally, right after that 9 game win streak they went on a 6 game losing streak, so, you know, they're not trading Sengun just because they won 9 games in a row against bad teams or teams missing key starters.

[Mr Funk]

I think it is unlikely, sadly, but being awful without Poeltl or another C would be the point.

If the FO really wants a good shot at Cooper Flagg, which I wouldn't be opposed to, sure. But I highly doubt that happens. Seems like we're committed to Poeltl for the time being, but obviously moreso committed to BBQ and whenever we move Poeltl (which seems like it won't be within the next year) we'll have an alternative or different centre lined up already.

[ConSarnit]

Houston are in a great place financially whereby they can afford the luxury of a C like Poeltl making $19.5m off the bench.

Poeltl is better than Adams before Adams knee injury at 30.

C is not an issue. However if they decide to throw in Sengun to get a superstar or decide they don’t want to pay him or they feel their team is better without him, they have options with Poeltl.

Most of the ideas in these forums have hardly any chance of happening. I would include trading Poeltl in that category and definitely a trade to specifically Houston. You have solid reasons for why he wouldn’t get traded there. I think a solid argument can be made for why they’d trade for him. You obviously disagree…I’m gonna go cry now lol

Your contention as to why HOU wants Poeltl can apply to any team. If any team trades their C then maybe they'll want Poeltl! This in itself should be an indicator of why Poeltl doesn't have many suitors around the league: you have to make up scenarios in which a team trades it's best player so that they'll maybe want Poeltl. We have to try and be at least realistic here.

Nobody wants to play $20m for a positionally locked C to come of their bench. No one.

The difference is there have already been whispers of a Sengun trade possibility.

Realistic? Go duck yourself. It’s a forum for discussion with all sorts of possibilities explored.

You've exposed yourself as someone not worthy of discussion.

If you're not going to keep things within the bounds of reason what's the point of discussing anything? If you're going to throw out an idea that YOU YOURSELF SAID WAS HIGHLY UNLIKELY you better be prepared to take some criticism. But it's clear you cannot.

[MiamiSPX]

I don't know how anyone can think Houston would even consider trading Sengun, he just came off a season where it's arguable he put up a better statline than Scottie and he's a year younger. Teams don't trade guys like that, full stop.

If the argument is that Houston went on a big winning streak after he got injured, it should be noted that most of the teams they beat on that streak were bad teams (Utah 2x, San Antonio, Washington 2x, Chicago, Portland), the only good teams they beat were Cleveland without Evan Mobley (Cleveland couldn't buy a 3 that game) and OKC with no SGA.

Additionally, right after that 9 game win streak they went on a 6 game losing streak, so, you know, they're not trading Sengun just because they won 9 games in a row against bad teams or teams missing key starters.

They are not trading Sengun lol.

[ArthurVandelay]

I don't know how anyone can think Houston would even consider trading Sengun, he just came off a season where it's arguable he put up a better statline than Scottie and he's a year younger. Teams don't trade guys like that, full stop.

If the argument is that Houston went on a big winning streak after he got injured, it should be noted that most of the teams they beat on that streak were bad teams (Utah 2x, San Antonio, Washington 2x, Chicago, Portland), the only good teams they beat were Cleveland without Evan Mobley (Cleveland couldn't buy a 3 that game) and OKC with no SGA.

Additionally, right after that 9 game win streak they went on a 6 game losing streak, so, you know, they're not trading Sengun just because they won 9 games in a row against bad teams or teams missing key starters.

It’s been out there in media, which means little of course.

The Houston Rockets could consider trading young talent like Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green because they "want to take a big, big swing in the trade market," according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon (h/t NBACentral).
"I don't know if both Şengün and Green are going to be here long-term," MacMahon said. "My guess—and I emphasize, guess—is that one or the other would end up getting moved at some point for them when they take their big swing."

Paul Pierce the latest to suggest Rockets' Alperen Sengun trade amid Jalen Green's heater

Last week, Bill Simmons suggested that the Rockets should engage in trade talks around their center:

“There’s a Sengun piece to this, where Sengun, you would’ve said, hands down, is the best asset on this team, he’s discount Jokic. Love this guy, but then the team kind of falls into place as soon as he goes away in some ways…Do you think we should make Jabari a five? Do you think we should shop Sengun this summer?

“I think we would at least say, yes, well, let’s at least talk this out. Let’s do the pros and cons of this whole thing because maybe this is the team you should be. You have so many athletes, so many scorers, maybe you need space, like maybe you just need space and athleticism, and maybe that Sengun guy is weighing you down a little bit. I’d just want to have the convo.”

[ciueli]

I don't know how anyone can think Houston would even consider trading Sengun, he just came off a season where it's arguable he put up a better statline than Scottie and he's a year younger. Teams don't trade guys like that, full stop.

If the argument is that Houston went on a big winning streak after he got injured, it should be noted that most of the teams they beat on that streak were bad teams (Utah 2x, San Antonio, Washington 2x, Chicago, Portland), the only good teams they beat were Cleveland without Evan Mobley (Cleveland couldn't buy a 3 that game) and OKC with no SGA.

Additionally, right after that 9 game win streak they went on a 6 game losing streak, so, you know, they're not trading Sengun just because they won 9 games in a row against bad teams or teams missing key starters.

It’s been out there in media, which means little of course.

The Houston Rockets could consider trading young talent like Alperen Şengün and Jalen Green because they "want to take a big, big swing in the trade market," according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon (h/t NBACentral).
"I don't know if both Şengün and Green are going to be here long-term," MacMahon said. "My guess—and I emphasize, guess—is that one or the other would end up getting moved at some point for them when they take their big swing."

Paul Pierce the latest to suggest Rockets' Alperen Sengun trade amid Jalen Green's heater

Last week, Bill Simmons suggested that the Rockets should engage in trade talks around their center:

“There’s a Sengun piece to this, where Sengun, you would’ve said, hands down, is the best asset on this team, he’s discount Jokic. Love this guy, but then the team kind of falls into place as soon as he goes away in some ways…Do you think we should make Jabari a five? Do you think we should shop Sengun this summer?

“I think we would at least say, yes, well, let’s at least talk this out. Let’s do the pros and cons of this whole thing because maybe this is the team you should be. You have so many athletes, so many scorers, maybe you need space, like maybe you just need space and athleticism, and maybe that Sengun guy is weighing you down a little bit. I’d just want to have the convo.”

Yeah, making team decisions on the basis of something Bill Simmons said on his talk show sounds like a pretty bad idea to me. The Tim MacMahon comment makes slightly more sense, mostly because we already know Houston shopped Green last offseason, sensible given that he hasn't been the player they hoped he would be and they only have one more season to figure out whether he is worth a big contract extension (he probably isn't but they'll still have to give it to him to keep him). It still doesn't mean anything with respect to Sengun, though. Paul Pierce is not someone I would listen to about anything NBA related, a former player who had a media career for a few years and now doesn't, this is what his wiki page says about him losing his job at ESPN:

His tenure with ESPN was inconsistent despite much fanfare. His role at the network was reduced in 2019 due to questions about his preparation for NBA segments and game predictions.

He was so bad he was fired, this in an industry where Charles Barkley, Shaq and Stephen A. Smith have had long careers.

So it's a whole lot of nothing. I'm sure he's available the same way any player in the league is available, realistically no team is paying a price that would get him (perennial All-Star in his mid-20s), so there's no point in mentioning it.

[brownbobcat]

MEM: just dumped Adams. Why are they going to bring in Poeltl or offer anything good for him?

Memphis is a potential fit. Adams had a major injury and missed the entire year. I think their expectations are to bounce back strong with a healthy Ja and seriously compete. JJJ clearly needs somebody beside him to do the dirty work, he doesn't box out or rebound to save his life and Aldama isn't the answer. They're over cap so the trade market is their best option to fill that spot.

Despite some obvious delusional stans around here, Poelt is not an upgrade for most teams - he is a lower tier starting C. Teams like Dallas, LAC, Orlando or Phoenix are not giving up substantial assets for marginal (at best) improvement. If Poeltl is so great, why does he get played off the floor so easily?

Keep in mind, Memphis will have a high draft pick this year, and could draft Clingan. Memphis is going to have an expensive roster next year, and they probably don't want another $20M contract. It was part of the reason they moved Adams, who worked so well in their starting lineup.

Adams hasn't played in 15 months and will be an older player coming back from major surgery - it makes a ton of sense to move on and avoid the luxury tax since the team wasn't contending. If they traded for Poeltl, they would obviously be sending salary out and not just tacking on $20M.