Report: Details of Celtics offer for Jakob Poeltl

Rumors of the Celtics interest in Jakob Poeltl appear to have been real. The Spurs ultimately went with a better offer from the Toronto Raptors, but details have emerged about what Boston’s offer included.

Per Brian Robb

League sources tell MassLive that Boston offered Payton Pritchard, Danilo Gallinari and multiple future second-round picks for the big man ahead of Thursday’s deal. Ultimately, the Spurs elected to go with the Raptors’ offer which included a top-6 protected first-round pick for 2024, two future second round picks and center Khem Birch.

Some thoughts here. It is notable that the Celtics were not willing to include a first rounder to get the deal done. In fact, as Robb points out, even if they had, the Raptors may have still had a better package based on where the picks are likely to land.

This seems to back up the notion that the Celtics are in the market for a big man and are willing to package Pritchard and Gallo to get something done. Again, that doesn’t mean any of that will happen before the NBA trade deadline passes. Just something to keep an eye on.

Ultimately the Celtics reluctance to pay a higher price was likely due to Jakob’s contract situation. He would have been a rental (leaving via free agency) or an expensive backup option going forward. All of that is covered in more detail here if you are interested.

Now the Celtics turn their attention to other bigs on the market. We’ll see if that same package is offered for other players or if the team will pursue someone via the TPE or just wait it out for the buyout market.

Stay tuned as always.