The NBA’s annual trade window unofficially opens Thursday, when the majority of free agents who signed new contracts this past summer become eligible to be moved.
San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl figures to be an important name leading up to the Feb. 9 trade deadline. Poeltl, 27, will reach unrestricted free agency for the first time in July, and that uncertainty — as with Pacers big man Myles Turner — often leads to trades that precede offseason activity, allowing a team to acquire a summer target before he even reaches the open market.