Jakob Poeltl anticipating he will be back with San Antonio Spurs next year

Jakob Poeltl changed his tone and now anticipates he will be back with the San Antonio Spurs next year

In his second season with the San Antonio Spurs, Jakob Poeltl emerged as one of the team’s most interesting young talents. He was an advanced stats darling, one of the best defenders on the team, and looked like a true building block of the franchise moving forward.

Spurs fans were high on Poeltl. We had high expectations for him heading into the bubble. And after his comments about looking at other teams during his restricted free agency this summer, we hoped that he would be given a chance to shine in Orlando.

Poeltl’s performance in the season restart was somewhat frustrating. He alternated between seeming passive – Spurs fans routinely voiced their frustrations and his resistance to dunking the ball, opting instead for little bunny hop shots that rimmed out – and aggressive. His 14 point, 12 rebound performance in the pivotal win over the Houston Rockets was exactly the kind of performance that we know he is capable of, but haven’t seen as often as we would like.

No matter how you feel about Jakob’s performance in the bubble, it shouldn’t have too much sway over the Spurs front office thinking when they’re mulling over his future with the team. And, according to Poeltl himself, he would like to be back in San Antonio next year.

Poeltl thinks it’s realistic he will be back with San Antonio Spurs

As reported by Jeff Garcia with News 4 San Antonio, Poeltl recently spoke with the Austrian APA about his future and what he sees coming in the next few months. Some things were consistent with what he’s said in the past but his overall tone suggested that he’s more open to coming back to San Antonio than we may have thought.

“I want to get paid for the value I have as a basketball player,” said Poeltl. “It’s not about getting as much out as possible. I want to win and develop as a basketball player…..I think it’s quite realistic that I will stay in San Antonio.”

Development and opportunity seem like the two biggest things to Jakob right now, as they should be. In his earlier comments, he came off as frustrated with how things have progressed in his time in San Antonio.

Poelt had this to say about his stagnating playing time: “That’s why I don’t want to play another year under similar conditions if it doesn’t have to be. I’m going into my fifth year in the NBA. I’m not saying now that from the start I expected to play 30 minutes in the fifth year, but I expected progress every year.”

A very fair observation. He was one of the most impactful players on the Spurs this year but he’d been locked in at playing close to 16 minutes a game in his first two years here. You can’t blame the guy for wanting more playing time, he’s certainly earned it.

What do you think, Spurs fans? Should the team bring back Poeltl on a long term deal? And if so, for how much?