Jakob Poeltl
2019-20 Salary: $3.75 million
Jakob Poeltl was viewed as a promising young big man during his time with the Toronto Raptors, but he hasn’t quite taken the ascent many expected of him, even after being dealt to the San Antonio Spurs as a part of the Kawhi Leonard–DeMar DeRozan deal. Not only that, but San Antonio’s disappointing start has many believing that they could be a team to look to blow it up this year, shipping out underperforming vets and aiming to bring in new pieces.
If they do so, they may very well entertain parting ways with Poeltl. Now, this would be an example of one that’s more tricky as, considering that Poeltl is on an expiring contract, the Spurs might not be interested in dealing him for someone with an extra year left like Davis. However, once again, Davis’ contract really isn’t all that hefty, and his reputed motor and hustle seem like they’d make him the ideal type of player that Gregg Popovich would love to have.
Furthermore, the Spurs have been an abysmal offensive rebounding team this season, which is an attribute that Davis excels at. Inserting a guy who can go up and get extra possessions like Davis can could be very helpful. Currently, the Spurs are 24th in offensive rebounds per game and second to last in the league in offensive rebounding percentage.
With Poeltl, perhaps a change of scenery could this time help him to blossom, especially if he were to head back to the familiar stomping grounds of Salt Lake City, Utah, wherein he played his college ball at University of Utah. Poeltl would no doubt have an opportunity to become a fan favorite due to his ties to the state and could very well be a helpful upgrade for the Jazz considering the bad fit Davis has been.
Despite less than enticing numbers on the surface, Poeltl has actually been quite good in the pick-and-roll, averaging 1.21 points per possession as the roll man and knocking down shots in that situation at a 70.8 percent clip. Surprisingly, both of those figures are better than the Jazz’s very own Rudy Gobert, albeit on less frequency.
So while Davis making sense for the Spurs may be the hardest obstacle to overcome here, it’s easy to see how this would be an upgrade for the Jazz. And if San Antonio isn’t bullish on their roster as currently constructed and is looking to make changes anyway, perhaps the two could strike a deal such that the Spurs added a reputed spark plug and offensive rebounder in Davis in exchange for Poeltl.