The Toronto Raptors made their first trade as the NBA trade deadline approaches — and it’s a familiar face.
The Raptors have offered Montreal’s Khem Birch, a protected first-round pick heading into the 2024 draft and two conditional second-round picks to the San Antonio Spurs, in return for Jakob Poeltl, multiple media reported Thursday morning. .
ESPN was the first to report this transaction.
Poeltl spent his first two career NBA seasons with the Raptors after the Toronto outfit selected him ninth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.
The Austrian was traded to Spurs in 2018 along with star player DeMar DeRozan and a protected first-round pick in the 2019 NBA draft for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. This megatransaction had set the table for the conquest of the first NBA championship in the history of the Raptors, in 2019.
Poeltl is averaging 12.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 26 minutes of playing time in 45 appearances this season with the Spurs.
For his part, Birch has averaged 2.2 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 blocks and 8.1 minutes in 20 games this season with the Raptors.
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