The Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers have been linked to a Pascal Siakam trade with the Toronto Raptors, according to NBA insider Matt Moore of The Action Network.
Some of the people Moore spoke with are skeptical that the Raptors are serious about trading Siakam, who has one year left on his contract.
“There was a lot of chuckling when I brought up reporting out of Toronto that the Raptors were exploring deals for Pascal Siakam. ‘Tell me one I haven’t heard.’ ‘Oh, I love this song!’ ‘Fool me twice, Shame on Masai (Ujiri).’ These were among the comments,” Moore wrote.
“Nevertheless, the Hawks, Thunder, and Sixers (in a multi-team trade) were among those mentioned as possible landing spots if Toronto does actually move the All-NBA forward.”
Siakam signed a four-year, $136 million rookie contract extension with the Raptors in October 2019. He will make $37.9 million next season and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024. The talented swingman averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists last season while shooting 48.0% from the field, 32.4% from beyond the arc and 77.4% from the free-throw line.
Siakam has career averages of 17.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He won the 2019 championship and the 2018-19 Most Improved Player of the Year Award. Toronto is hesitant to offer Siakam a max contract extension. It’s also worth mentioning that Siakam didn’t show up to Las Vegas to watch any Summer League games.
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT reported in June that Siakam’s preference was to stay with the Raptors. However, things may have changed after Toronto didn’t offer Siakam a max contract extension.
The Raptors lost the 9-10 play-in game to the Chicago Bulls and didn’t make the 2023 playoffs. Nick Nurse was fired as head coach and replaced by Darko Rajakovic and Fred VanVleet left the Raptors for the Houston Rockets in free agency.
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