Pascal Siakam is garnering a lot of attention from around the league.
The Raptors could look to trade the two-time All-Star before the Feb. 8 trade deadline to get something in return for him.
However, if Siakam is traded he won’t be eligible to sign a full four-year deal until the summer, which complicates his value amongst interested teams.
If a team trades for the Raptors forward before the deadline, they would run the risk of losing him in free agency where he would have the freedom of going to any team.
One team that has been linked to Siakam a ton is the Indiana Pacers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pacers are an interesting team because they’ll have cap space to sign him so they wouldn’t necessarily have to trade their young pieces for him:
“A team like Indiana (Pacers) are going to be really interesting because you’re looking at the next 5 years..next 4 years for Pascal Siakam. And a chance to play with Tyrese Haliburton and the group they have in Indiana and they have the cap space. If you’re the Pacers who have been engaged with Toronto on this…you don’t have to necessarily have to go out and give the really good players Masai Ujiri would love to get…Jarace Walker, Bennedict Mathurin because you have the flexibility to know hey we can give this guy (Siakam) a max deal this summer without moving anything around.”
This is what makes things difficult for Masai Ujiri and the Raptors. Since Siakam is about to become an unrestricted free agent and will have the freedom to sign with any team, it could certainly limit what teams offer for him leading up to the deadline.
Therefore, the Raptors may have to settle for less or else they could lose Siakam for nothing this summer.
Possibility of Siakam signing an extension with Raptors
There’s of course the possibility that the Raptors end up re-signing Siakam, but according to Wojnarowski the Raptors and Siakam are “nowhere close” on an extension.
Have you subscribed to the Raptors Nation YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
