The Celtics have a big man issue — this team is relying on two injury-prone bigs for their title run. Jakob Poeltl could fix that.
The Celtics are the No. 1 seed in the East by a four-game edge and the favorite of many to come out of the East. With how shaky and turbulent, the West looks on a daily basis, the Celtics look primed for another title run. Still, this team has centers with deep injury histories.
While Robert Williams is an amazing center, there are still questions about his health going into a deep playoff run. Yes, he has recovered from his most recent injury, but the left knee is still a concern.
Al Horford is aging gracefully and as he continues to be solid for Boston but concern about him is the wear and tear on both knees, especially if those knees are meant to play a lot of minutes. Celtics have a very good shot at winning the title this season, if they want to have the best shot possible they should try and trade for Jakob Poeltl.
Jakob Poeltl would solve a lot of problems for the Boston Celtics
Before we get into this, the big man will not end up being traded for two first-round picks like that the Spurs are asking for, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. While Poeltl will be one of the best players available at the trade deadline, he quite simply isn’t worth that.
To get Poeltl, a team will most likely need to trade a first-round pick and a decent young player who has some team control left on his contract.
Before we examine a potential trade for Poeltl, let’s first look at the Celtics’ future going forward. This team window is closing just a little bit and there is a possibility Jaylen Brown leaves at some point.
Jared Weiss of The Athletic actually reported that “few stars have had to deal with the rumors about their place in a franchise like Brown.” If he asks for a trade or threatens to leave when his contract is up, the Celtics have a two-year window of serious title contention built around the rest of their current core.
The Celtics don’t have a lot of assets to play with in terms of picks. They do have a young player in Payton Pritchard who is struggling in his third year but played very well last season. Add in Danilo Gallinari’s contract, which would be used as salary filler (to a third team) and a slightly protected pick in 2025 and that’s a very solid package for Poeltl.
As Weiss noted in his article, the Spurs can’t acquire Gallinari due to him being waived by the team over the summer. A way to overcome this is by shipping additional seconds (looking at one of the 2029 or 2030 second-round picks) to the Pacers if they don’t use their cap space during the trade deadline to make the deal work.
The Celtics need to go all in right now and at least present an offer for Poeltl. Yes, they might not end up with him, but at least presenting an offer and helping fix your biggest need while making your team as competitive as possible is the best course of action. Yes, this plan does limit your actions if Brown does end up leaving in two years but right now you have a chance to win a title, so why not go for it?
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