The Toronto Raptors’ Media Day had a lot of speculation surrounding it.
One of the biggest questions needed to be answered was if the Raptors and Pascal Siakam had spoken about a potential contract extension.
Pascal Siakam is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
The Raptors are eligible to sign Siakam now to a maximum contract extension of four years and at least $192 million.
However, if Siakam makes the All-NBA team this coming season, he would be eligible for a five-year $307.23 million supermax contract in free agency next summer.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri said he still hasn’t discussed a potential contract extension with Pascal Siakam:
Masai confirms that Raptors haven’t talked about a contract extension with Pascal Siakam “yet.”
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) October 2, 2023
“We do believe in Pascal. We do believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year.” Ujiri said.
Ujiri added “I said it, that we were selfish; I’m not running away from that. We were selfish, and we didn’t play the right way. So, let us see it when we play the right way.”
Fans are speculating if this was a subtle shot towards Pascal Siakam.
Ujiri was then asked about possible contract extensions for Gary Trent Jr. and O.G. Anunoby and he said “the time for those talks is now. We’ll see how these conversations go.”
Ujiri added “we’ve always taken care of our players here and we’re going to see how that plays out. We’ve got time to discuss with them or take whatever direction we’re going to take.”
Pascal Siakam’s contract extension
Pascal Siakam’s name was mentioned in trade rumours during the offseason. Multiple teams including the Atlanta Hawks were reportedly interest in the two-time All-Star.
Given the recent remarks made by Masai Ujiri, it seems like the Raptors aren’t really prioritizing their star player right now and are going with a wait and see approach.
The Raptors lost Fred VanVleet this past free agency for nothing, so the last thing the Raptors want is for the same to happen with Siakam. With no extension taking place as of yet, there’s going to be a lot of uncertainty surrounding Siakam’s future moving forward.
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