Spurs Center Jakob Poeltl Speaks On Being A Free-Agent For The First Time In His Career

Head coach of the San Antonio Spurs Greg Popovich has had an illustrious NBA career. He has five championships with the Spurs franchise, has coached numerous hall of fame players, and has even had the honor of coaching the men’s USA basketball team. However, his 2022-23 Spurs team is struggling mightily this season. For the first time in a long time the Spurs need to tear it down and rebuild. That involves parting ways with some of the pivotal pieces of the franchise. 

San Antonio are just 9-19 this season which is last in the Southwest Division and dead last in the Western Conference. One of the Spurs’ best players is set to become an unrestricted free-agent at the end of this season. If their season plays out the ways it’s looing right now, San Antonio may have to move on from Jakob Poeltl. He’s been with the team since the 2018-19 season. Poeltl was apart of the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors. Tough decisions loom at the end of the season on what he wants to do with his career going forward.

NBA betting sites have the Spurs at (+100000) to win the Finals this season.

Final from the AT&T Center. See you in Mexico City on Saturday! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/9qXzEpJ9xJ

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 15, 2022

Spurs center becomes a free-agent for first time in his career at the of the season

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Jakob Poeltl said he is embracing the fact that he will become an unrestricted free-agent at the end of this season for the first time his his career. He is on the final year of a three-year contract extension worth $26.3 million.

“I’ve never been in this situation where unrestricted free agency is coming up. It’s a cool situation for sure, because in the NBA, a lot of times you are — I don’t want to say stuck — but it feels like you’re a little bit of a pawn. They can just trade you around wherever they want. It’s not the mentality you should have while you’re playing, but it’s the reality of it. Your contract can get passed around, more or less, whenever and however they want. So it’s nice to be in this situation where you can kind of decide your own fate and evaluate what’s going to be the best situation for me,” – Jakob Poeltl

Poeltl should take pride in the fact that other teams are reaching out and have interest in the 27 year old big man who still has a lot of untapped potential he can reach. The Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors have both been linked to the Spurs center. He could be a huge boost for a team that is looking to make a deep playoff run.