Damian Lillard and James Harden aren't the only stars who could be traded this offseason.
According to Substack's Marc Stein, it is "increasingly conceivable" that Pascal Siakam could be on the move before one or both of Lillard and Harden. The Pacers and Hawks have been linked to the Raptors forward, and it's believed there are "other suitors whose identities have yet to be confirmed."
This isn't the first time Siakam has been in trade rumors, but Stein adds that his read on the Raptors is that they're eager to give Scottie Barnes and O.G. Anunoby even more of a runway following Fred VanVleet's departure in free agency. With Siakam being 29 years old, he's on a different timeline than the two of them.
What would a team be getting if they traded for Siakam? Let's take a closer look.
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How good is Pascal Siakam?
In our most recent top 30 list, we had Siakam ranked as the 28th-best player in the NBA, sandwiched between Tyrese Haliburton at 27 and Trae Young at 29.
Siakam is one of the best development stories in NBA history. The No. 27 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, he played a key role in Toronto's championship in 2019 as the team's starting power forward. Since then, he's established himself as one of the best players at his position, earning a pair of All-Star and All-NBA selections.
Siakam has improved pretty much every year of his career, 2022-23 being no exception. He's coming off of a season in which he averaged career-highs of 24.2 points and 5.8 assists to go along with 7.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals. He was one of 15 players to average 20-5-5.
There aren't many players who score as often as Siakam does in one-on-one situations. Only nine scored more isolation points than him last season. Additionally, only 14 scored more total points than he did out of the post.
Siakam is too quick or slippery for a lot of forwards and centers to stay in front of. It's no secret that his go-to move is a spin, and yet he still seems to get to it multiple times per game.
He isn't as big as, say, Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Siakam has the size and length to overwhelm guards with his back to the basket.
Siakam has great touch around the basket, and he's become one of the league's leading scorers from both floater range and midrange. He can step out to the 3-point line, but he's limited from out there. According to NBA.com, he's connected on 34.0 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts and 25.7 percent of his pull-up attempts from the perimeter over the last three seasons.
As much as Siakam has developed over the years, he's still at his best when he's attacking the rim.
Siakam isn't known for his passing, but he's become a solid facilitator. He draws a lot of attention on his drives to the basket and does a good job of finding the open man.
Siakam assisted VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. an almost equal amount last season, many of which were the result of drive and kicks. He has also developed some nice chemistry with Jakob Poeltl, a traditional big who does the bulk of his scoring on cuts and rolls.
Defensively, Siakam isn't as disruptive as other forwards, but he picks up a decent amount of deflections and he has the versatility to defend multiple positions. He's been a part of some excellent defensive teams in Toronto and isn't someone teams can pick on.
Pascal Siakam contract details
Siakam has one season remaining on his contract. He will earn $37.9 million in the 2023-24 season and be an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason, allowing him to sign with any team of his choosing.
As a free agent, the most the Raptors could offer Siakam is a five-year, $248.8 million contract. The most he could sign with another team in unrestricted free agency is a four-year, $184.5 million contract.
Siakam will also be supermax eligible if he earns an All-NBA selection in 2023-24. That would bump the most he could re-sign with the Raptors to $290.3 million over five years.
| Season | Pascal Siakam's salary |
| 2023-24 | $37,893,408 |
| 2024-25 | Unrestricted free agent |
Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported on June 22 that Siakam's preference is to remain with the Raptors.
Pascal Siakam career stats
- 17.0 points per game
- 6.5 rebounds per game
- 3.5 assists per game
- 0.9 steals per game
- 0.7 blocks per game
- 1.9 turnovers per game
- 48.7 percent field goal shooting
- 32.7 3-point shooting
- 77.4 percent free throw shooting
