Report: VanVleet, Siakam were 'deeply frustrated' with Raptors teammates last season

The 2022-23 NBA season was the Toronto Raptors' most tumultuous campaign in almost a decade, as a talent-laden squad limped to a 41-41 record and a premature play-in exit at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.

Changes had to be made in the offseason, there was no doubt about it. Head coach Nick Nurse was the first to go after five years at the helm. Then, rather unexpectedly, the Raptors watched star point guard Fred VanVleet sign a massive three-year, $130-million contract with the Houston Rockets in free agency, a figure Toronto was not comfortable matching.

Now trade talks are reportedly picking up around Pascal Siakam, with the Atlanta Hawks and others ramping up negotiations centred around the star forward. According to Sportsnet's Michael Grange, "there is persistent speculation" that Siakam could be dealt prior to the regular season or "perhaps much sooner" as the NBA's wild transaction market starts to cool off a bit over the coming weeks.

Grange added added that throughout a tumultuous 2022-23 campaign, VanVleet and Siakam grew "deeply frustrated" with their younger teammates throughout the course of the season, as losses to inferior opposition began mounting.

According to Grange, the Raptors' young stars did not take kindly to their patronizing older teammates, creating a divide in the locker room that Nurse and his staff could not bridge.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri felt the need to step in and address the team on a number of occasions as well, notably pulling Barnes aside at one point, according to Grange.

Things reached a boiling point as the trade deadline neared in February, with the team's poor performances tempting the front office into blowing things up and selling off its most valuable assets. Weeks of rumours reportedly left the locker room uneasy, with players unsure how secure their roles on the team were. Grange says Nurse had all but accepted that he'd be fired following a string of losses before the end of the season.

With the arrival of head coach Darko Rajakovic and a new-look staff, first-round sharpshooter Gradey Dick, and the departure of Nurse, VanVleet and possibly Siakam, the Raptors are preparing to enter a new era. But we'll have to wait and see how different things really look come October.