NBA Trade Rumors: Spurs, Jakob Poeltl, Sixers, Bulls

Spurs

Center Jakob Poeltl is drawing lots of trade interest ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

“I think he’s going to be one of the real pivotal players at the NBA trade deadline,” Wojnarowski said. “You saw in recent years there was not as much of a market for centers. That’s changed this year. There’s a lot of interest in Poeltl and there are a lot of teams for San Antonio that will make the kind of offers that (the Spurs) may want to move him.”

Poeltl is eligible for a four-year, $58 million extension, but could potentially get larger deals in free agency over the summer.

“But if you’re San Antonio, and you win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, (Poeltl) makes perfect sense in the middle with Wembanyama at the four,” Wojnarowski said, adding that the Spurs would like to keep Poeltl for that very reason.

• Spurs guard/forward Doug McDermott has also been drawing trade interest, and the Spurs appear open to moving him, sources told Hoops Wire.

76ers

• The 76ers are expected to trade either guard/forward Furkan Korkmaz or shooting guard Jaden Springer to shed salary and get below the luxury-tax line, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line.
• Neither has been a part of the Sixers’ regular rotation and moving either without taking back significant salary would indeed help Philadelphia from paying the luxury tax, Stein noted.

Bulls

• The Bulls could explore the trade market for small forward DeMar DeRozan and center Nikola Vucevic, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
• While the Bulls have been middling around being a play-in team, some suspect they will actually be quiet at the deadline, Cowley added.
• Coach Billy Donovan isn’t believed to be looking for trades. “I have a lot of confidence and belief in the group because of the people they are,” Donovan said, via Cowley. “But you want to be able to get better …”