Most San Antonio Spurs fans probably have fond memories of Jakob Poeltl from his time in the silver and black. But it's pretty hard to deny that when he was traded to the Toronto Raptors, he missed out on his ultimate opportunity [to play alongside Victor Wembanyama](https://airalamo.com/victor-wembanyama-mvp-odds-already-higher-many-expected).
Poeltl was one of countless examples of someone's situation with a team fundamentally changing from the time they joined the team to the time they left it. When he arrived in the Alamo City in July 2018, it was as a result of the infamous Kawhi Leonard trade that sent the former Finals MVP north of the border to Toronto.
As such, Jakob joined a team that had won 61 games just 12 months prior to his arrival. The fanbase still had realistic expectations of going deep in the playoffs and of winning a championship. Remember that this was the tail end of the Spurs' dynasty that basically lasted from the late 1990s all the way up to the late 2010s.
Jakob Poeltl never got a chance to play alongside Wemby
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So even though [DeMar DeRozan had become the Spurs' new franchise player](https://airalamo.com/ex-spurs-all-star-already-trade-block-before-season-even-starts) in place of Leonard, everyone still thought this team could achieve a lot, and Poeltl became a crucial cog in San Antonio's machine. From day one, he was a crucial interior force on the boards, and his importance only grew over time.
The Spurs wound up missing out on the playoffs in 2019-20 for the first time since the 90s, and they entered more of a retooling period that would eventually turn into a full-on rebuild. At this time, Poeltl became one of San Antonio's foundational pieces, and was playing close to 30 minutes per game a couple of seasons later.
Poeltl became the Spurs' starting center and was putting up solid numbers every night, nearly averaging a double-double. Then came February 2023, when San Antonio's front office opted to deal him (ironically) back to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Khem Birch and a trio of draft picks. As we know, the Spurs would win the draft lottery just three months later and win the right to draft Victor Wembanyama.
It's pretty painful to think that Jakob made the move to San Antonio right after Kawhi left town, and left right before Wemby got there. He missed out on the chance to play with some special teammates, but Spurs fans can appreicate how he ended up sort of bridging the gap between two eras in a way.