San Antonio Spurs: 5 offseason roster moves they must make

1. Re-sign Jakob Poeltl

After coming over in the Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan trade with the Toronto Raptors, Jakob Poeltl has struggled a little to strengthen his position in the rotation. He has played 143 of a possible 153 games since arriving in San Antonio, starting just 42 of them.

In the season just finished, Poeltl averaged 5.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 0.6 steals in just 17.7 minutes per game. It is this last number which has been the problem for the former ninth pick in the 2016 draft.

Poeltl has averaged 16.5 minutes per game for his career and cannot seem to earn more playing time. Poeltl is not the strongest offensive player in the league by any means but his defense and rim protection should give him more playing time.

Poeltl was second on the Spurs with 1.4 blocks per game, behind only Aldridge who averaged 1.6 in almost double the playing time. For a team down in the bottom third of the NBA in so many defensive categories, it is a little confusing Poeltl did not play more.

Trey Lyles was the preferred starting option at power forward last season due to his floor spacing ability. He shot the ball at 38.7 percent from deep, but only 2.7 times per game. This is not enough to keep him in the starting rotation over Poeltl.

The problem is this team was 20th in the league for field goal percentage against and Lyles is not a strong defender. Poeltl is a true defensive anchor who also knows his his role on offense. He is a true pick and roll center who gets busy on the offense glass.

Re-signing Poeltl, and giving him more time should benefit the Spurs greatly next year. He has the potential to average very close to a double-double if he is given starter minutes.