Alongside Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich, Jakob Poeltl does not regret his move to San Antonio

It is also time for a first assessment for Jakob Poeltl, back in Toronto for just over a month after a nice break of five years in San Antonio. While we could expect change in the Raptors before the “trade deadline”, the arrival of the Austrian was finally the major movement but can already be seen as a clear success.

Looking back, the pivot spoke of his first start in 2018 in the “trade” involving DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi Leonard, the summer before the championship title won by the Canadian franchise. If the separation was hard at the time, time made him appreciate his time in San Antonio.

“For me, it was hard. It took me a little by surprise, especially because I thought it had gone well during the year coming off the bench with a young “second unit”. We played pretty good basketball, so I saw myself staying in Toronto for a long time. The trade happened, I was surprised, but the more time passed, the more I saw the good sides, and the opportunity, like playing for a coach like Gregg Popovich, being able to develop in a system as it is set up at Spurs, it worked very well for me. I wanted to take this opportunity, make the most of it, and in the end, it worked out well for me. I enjoyed my time at Spurs”, he confided in “The Raptors Show” podcast.

Spurs Identity Keepers Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich

In San Antonio, he was able to learn alongside Tim Duncan, a luxury that helped make him a complete player on the field.

” It was really great. Tim is one of those guys who is really down to earth, always ready to help. So having had the chance to train with him, he shared a lot of things with me, especially on lots of little details that are likely to help me in a basketball game. For many, it was the fact of being able to play against him, that he defends on you. Even if he’s not into it, you understand things that you can only see by playing against veterans like him.

But it is above all his collaboration with Gregg Popovich that made him the man and the player he has become today. The Austrian thus had strong words to discuss his relationship with the Spurs technician, to whom he owes a lot, even if there were inevitably moments of tension.

“You don’t spend five years in San Antonio without Pop yelling at you. But I really enjoyed Pop’. Over the years, my role has increased, I have gained in responsibilities. I also had more freedom on the pitch, to be able to create for myself, which made me feel like I was really progressing in my game. But more than anything, I liked being around him off the pitch. He’s a great guy, very invested, who not only teaches his players about basketball, but also about the world we live in, all kinds of things, good or bad, that are happening in the world. And he’s just a great guy, with whom we can exchange, whether on serious subjects or just to talk. He also pushes everyone on the team to forge that camaraderie.”

There are always positives and negatives in every situation, and the string of difficult seasons has not always been easy to manage for Jakob Poeltl. His return to Toronto in a slightly more competitive team was therefore seen as a relief on this point.

“I was aware of the rumors, that there were conversations with the Raptors and maybe a few other teams. But I did not know that the trade was going to be done before the others. When I was introduced to it, I was excited to come back. I thought there was a good group on which we could build and I thought I could bring added value to this team. And so far, it’s worked really well.”