San Antonio Spurs: 3 bold predictions for 2018-19 NBA season

2. Jakob Poeltl will emerge as a franchise cornerstone

Jakob Poeltl is generally an afterthought in the Kawhi Leonard trade, but he really shouldn’t be. He may have been a backup in Toronto, but he was the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and he’s lived up to the hype so far.

Poeltl has the size to protect the rim and the agility to stick with guards on the perimeter — the hallmark of a good defensive center in the modern NBA. On offense, he’s had a small role so far, but he’s still scored efficiently, shooting 65.9 percent from the field in only his second season last year.

While he doesn’t have the production of a star, the advanced stats all love him due to his two-way impact. Out of the 11 Toronto Raptors players who played at least 500 minutes per game last year, Poeltl was third in Win Shares per 48 minutes, second in Box Plus/Minus, and third in Value Over Replacement Player.

The only players above him in any of the categories were DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas — all franchise cornerstones in their own right. If Poeltl had been given the minutes to start and prove himself, perhaps he’d be talked about in the same way as those three players. Given the modern nature of his game and his youth, odds are he’ll be better than Valanciunas as early as this year.

On the San Antonio Spurs, Pau Gasol is bound to move to the bench eventually. The sooner he does, the sooner Poeltl will be promoted to the starting lineup, and the sooner he can prove how good he really is.