The Indiana Pacers were swept by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Former Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam overall had a nice season with the Pacers averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 rebounds. He led the team in points per game and rebounds per game, per StatMuse.
Following the Pacers Game 4 loss to the Celtics, Siakam opened up about his year which saw him get traded from Toronto to Indiana, via the Pacers YouTube Channel:
“It’s been a crazy year. I came from a place where I thought I was going to spend the rest of my career there and ended up leaving there and, yeah, it’s been hard..it’s been tough just going through everything and leaving in the middle of the season and just going through it a lot mentally and physically and just from everything and then landing here, the support from the first day has been incredible.”
Siakam doubled down on it being tough to have the kind of breakup he had with Toronto:
“After you have that kind of breakup, it’s hard. It’s tough. And then you’re coming here and I think without that kind of support I don’t know how I’d do. I’m so grateful and happy that I came to a place where I just feel so supportive and you just feel like you’re needed, you feel like you matter, and as a player that’s really all you can ask for.”
The Raptors had no plans of extending Siakam so they had to move on from him and officially start fresh. The Raptors traded Siakam to Indiana for an underwhelming package which saw Toronto acquire Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis Jr., Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks.
Siakam is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
CBS Sports projects Isaiah Collier to Toronto
The 2024 NBA Draft is fast approaching as the Raptors will have plenty of options with their first-round pick this year.
CBS Sports has the Raptors taking Isaiah Collier out of USC at No. 19 in their latest mock draft.
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