NBA Rumors: Ranking and predicting where the top 35 NBA free agents will sign

18. Jakob Poeltl (unrestricted)

Jakob Poeltl was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors this past season. Between those two stops, Poeltl is coming off the best two-year stretch of his career. He seems to have settled in at the NBA level and has begun to hit his stride as a player.

This past season, Poeltl averaged 13 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 63 percent shooting from the field. Heading into free agency, he’s the type of center that is expected to get a pretty strong offer. There should be plenty of suitors if he’s open to listening to non-Toronto offers.

Poeltl’s free agency could very well come down to this: the Raptors gave up a first-round pick and two second-round picks to acquire him at this past year’s NBA Trade Deadline. Is Toronto willing to simply give him away (via sign and trade, perhaps salvaging pennies on the dollar) or let him walk without anything in exchange? I’d lean no. Probably a strong no. That doesn’t seem like a Masai Ujiri type of move.

I’d be shocked if Poeltl wasn’t back with the Raptors next season. Even if it’s solely on the base of keeping an asset to cash in down the road.

Prediction: Toronto Raptors