3 Teams still willing to trade the Raptors for Jakob Poeltl

No. 2: Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies are poised to be one of the larger bounceback candidates in modern NBA history, enduring a single injury-ravaged season that saw them spiral from the No. 2 seed into the lottery. With their entire core back it seems very likely they will be a 50-win team once again and competing for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

They will attempt to do so, however, with a rookie starting at center. Zach Edey was positively dominant in college at Purdue but his NBA bona fides are very much up in the air. If he is not immediately ready to play, the Grizzlies have few options behind him; the undersized Brandon Clarke, coming off of a major injury, or Jay Huff, on a two-way deal.

The Grizzlies are good enough to push some chips in to maximize their team over the next few seasons. Every member of the core is 25 or older; they aren't in a position to wait around for a rookie to develop. Making a move to upgrade at center would make a lot of sense, and Jakob Poeltl could be the answer they need.

Adding Poeltl would make the Grizzlies extremely expensive moving forward, but it would also give them a ferocious defensive base with Poeltl playing alongside recent Defensive Player of the Year winners in Jaren Jackson Jr. and Marcus Smart. The shooting of Jackson mitigates some of the difficulties of building around Poeltl on offense, and his screen-setting and rim-running should fit in well.

Memphis was always a logical suitor this past summer, and even though they drafted Edey in the Top 10 they could still come around to making an offer for Poeltl this season.