Pacers take next step toward becoming contenders, acquire Pascal Siakam from Raptors

The Raptors’ fire sale continues. The Indiana Pacers are finalizing a trade to acquire Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Woj, the Pacers will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks in the deal. The New Orleans Pelicans will serve as a third team in the deal, sending Kira Lewis to the Raptors and a second-round pick back to the Pacers.

Siakam, a two-time All-Star, now joins the high-octane Pacers, who lead the NBA in offensive rating and points per game. The Pacers can now pair breakout star Tyrese Haliburton with a proven NBA talent that has a championship ring and has made two All-NBA teams in the last three seasons.

The Raptors drafted Siakam 27th overall out of New Mexico State in the 2016 NBA Draft. A long-term project for Toronto, the 29-year-old dominated the NBA’s developmental league (now called the G-League) winning a D-League championship and a D-League Finals MVP in his first season with the Raptors affiliate Raptors 905.

Siakam eventually blossomed into a dominant two-way forward, winning Most Improved Player during the Raptor’s 2019 championship season with Kawhi Leonard. He was made the centerpiece of the Raptors’ post-Kawhi rebuild, making two All-Star teams, a second-team All-NBA and a third-team All-NBA roster in the three years following the championship run.

The relationship between Siakam and the Raptors began to sour this past summer when Raptors president Masai Ujiri did not initiate contract negotiations with Siakam. When asked about the decision not to initiate, Ujiri said, “A lot of players didn’t play the right way. I said it, that we were selfish. I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we didn’t play the right way. So let us see it when we play it the right way.”

Siakam quickly responded to the quote, saying “I’ve never been a selfish player in my life. Ever since I started playing basketball. I don’t have an ounce of selfishness in me.”

While Siakam is entering unrestricted free agency in 2024, Indiana reportedly feels “optimistic” about their ability to retain Siakam long-term if the trade were to go through, according to The Athletic.