Warriors: Ranking the 3 best trade targets to turn them back into title contenders
By Josh Wilson
Warriors best trade targets: Jakob Poeltl, San Antonio Spurs
The Warriors want Jakob Poeltl according to LJ Ellis of SpursTalk. Ellis doesn’t have a known history of accurate trade reporting — and the Spurs seldom make midseason deals — so it’s hard to tell how legit this is at this point.
The most glaring need the Warriors have is in the center position. James Wiseman has been sent down to the G-League, called back up, and sent back down.
For all we know, the Warriors have genuine hope that they can jump-start Wiseman’s injury-riddled career with more playing time at the minor league level. It worked with Jordan Poole, and they’ve said as much when talking about Wiseman being sent down.
They may not have as much patience as they thought they did when they drafted Wiseman, though. And behind Kevon Looney, the Warriors simply don’t have anyone to serve as their defensive lynchpin, rim protector, and rebounder.
Poeltl is averaging 9.9 rebounds per game to go along with 12.9 points. He’s the only Spurs player who has logged over 300 minutes without logging a negative defensive box plus-minus. The Spurs are giving up a league-last 120.8 points per game, so his individual defensive statistics are somewhat corrupted by what’s around him.
His defense could shine in Golden State.