Yahoo Sports Four potential Pascal Siakam trade destinations
The Toronto Raptors may finally be ready to make a big change to their group. At last year’s trade deadline, they listened to offers on all their best players but ultimately did not move any of them. Things backfired for them when they missed the playoffs and lost Fred VanVleet to the Houston Rockets in free agency.
The loss of VanVleet fractured an already middling offense and they may not be able to find a suitable replacement before the season starts. While the additions of Dennis Schroeder and Jalen McDaniels suggest that they’re still trying to be competitive, media reports believe otherwise.
According to SportNet’s Michael Grange, Pascal Siakam’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors and the Atlanta Hawks have been pursuing him. Marc Stein echoes similar sentiments and reports that the Indiana Pacers are a legitimate suitor to acquire him.
Trading Siakam could signal a shift toward a rebuild or retool considering the two-time All-NBA forward is their best player. He reportedly wants to remain in Toronto and does not want to discuss an extension with other teams, which could hurt his trade value. This season will be Siakam’s last with supermax eligibility, meaning he can qualify for it if he earns All-NBA honors this season.
If the Raptors do decide to trade Siakam, here are some teams that make sense and what they could offer.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have been the team most linked to Siakam and reportedly have been in trade discussions with the Raptors for him. They have a massive hole at the four after trading John Collins, and Siakam would be a significant upgrade on both ends for them. They can offer young players Onyeka Okongwu and Kobe Bufkin, a first-round pick in 2029 or 2030, and the Kings’ 2024 first-round pick.
The difficulty for the Hawks in trading for Siakam is their lack of matching salaries. Dejounte Murray cannot be traded having just extended for four years, $111 million, and Bogdan Bogdanovic still has a trade restriction from his recent extension that expires on September 16. They could’ve expanded the Collins trade to use his outgoing salary to acquire Siakam, but that can’t happen since they officially traded him to the Jazz.
Teams over the cap and below the first apron like the Hawks must send back $30.1 million in outgoing salaries to match for Siakam. Their most obvious candidate to be involved is DeAndre Hunter and his $20.1 million salary. They would still need to send back another $10 million, so a combination of Okongwu ($8.1 million) and one of AJ Griffin ($3.7 million) or Jalen Johnson ($2.9 million) gets them there.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers appear ready to make a playoff push after two consecutive years in the lottery. Their biggest needs are at forward and they already addressed it by signing Bruce Brown, trading for Obi Toppin, and drafting Jarace Walker. Acquiring Siakam would round out their lineup and could be what puts them back in the playoff mix.
Indiana currently has $7.5 million in remaining cap space, so they would need to send out the difference in salaries ($30.4 million). Buddy Hield ($19.3 million) is their most logical contract to make up the bulk of the salary matching. They could include a combination of Daniel Theis ($9.1 million) and T.J. McConnell ($8.7 million) to help get closer.
Some young players they could offer include a combination of Bennedict Mathurin ($6.9 million), Aaron Nesmith ($5.6 million), Isaiah Jackson ($2.7 million), Andrew Nembhard ($2.1 million), and Toppin ($6.8 million) who can be aggregated since the Pacers acquired him with cap space. They also have plenty of first-round picks to offer since they still have all their own over the next seven drafts.
New York Knicks
Knicks have been accumulating assets for several years now and are ready to cash in their chips on the right All-Star. They can trade up to four of their own first-round picks, and four owed to them by other teams. They also have several talented young players like RJ Barrett ($23.9 million), Immanuel Quickley ($4.2 million), and Quentin Grimes ($2.4 million) that could interest the Raptors.
The most obvious logical trade candidate for the Knicks in a potential Siakam trade is Julius Randle ($28.2 million) who would make up the majority of the salary matching. Siakam would be a significant upgrade for the Knicks at the 4, especially defensively in the playoffs.
The Knicks are just $4 million below the luxury tax, so they’ll want to send out equal salaries in a trade to stay under. The same applies to the Raptors who are just $3.3 million below the tax. A framework including Randle, Evan Fournier ($18.9 million), and draft picks for Siakam and Chris Boucher ($11.8 million) could make sense.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are another team that is interested in Siakam. They have been linked to James Harden, who has requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers after picking up his $35.6 million player option. If they cannot acquire him, they could try to make a run at Siakam.
The Clippers have more than enough players on their team to make up matching salaries with a combination of Norman Powell ($18 million), Marcus Morris ($17.1 million), Nicolas Batum ($11.7 million), and Robert Covington ($11.7 million). Because they are over the second tax apron, they would need to send back $34.4 million to match for Siakam.
They can offer up to two of their own first-round picks in 2028 and 2030 and pick swaps in 2027 and 2029. They could also offer young players in Terrance Mann ($10.6 million), Ivica Zubac ($10.9 million), Kobe Brown ($2.4 million), and Bones Hyland ($2.3 million). It isn’t the best package by any means, but it could be sufficient if no one is offering anything better.
