After agreeing to send OG Anunoby to New York, the Raptors are expected to continue exploring trades involving forward Pascal Siakam, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
While Wojnarowski reports that there’s currently no traction on any deal involving Siakam, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) says league sources expect the two-time All-Star to be on the move at some point.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports also writes that league personnel anticipate a Siakam trade following today’s Anunoby deal. As Fischer observes, many rival executives had long believed that Siakam was more likely to be traded than Anunoby, with the Hawks, Kings, and Pacers frequently mentioned as potential suitors. Toronto and Atlanta had serious conversations about the 29-year-old over the summer.
Like Anunoby, Siakam can become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, so the Raptors will have to make a decision soon on whether or not he’s part of their long-term plans. Toronto’s cap situation going forward will allow the team to re-sign both Siakam and Immanuel Quickley to new contracts that begin in ’24/25, but the club would, of course, gain significantly more cap flexibility by not having to commit to a new maximum-salary – or near-max – contract for Siakam.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observed this afternoon (via Twitter), the Raptors are in position to generate more than $36MM in cap room in 2024 and then go over the cap to re-sign Quickley, but that projection would require Siakam to not be on the books beyond this season — it would also mean not taking back any multiyear money in a Siakam trade, which may not be realistic.
From a basketball perspective, there had been questions about the long-term on-court fit of the Anunoby/Siakam duo alongside franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. Led by those three forwards, the Raptors had gotten off to a 12-19 start this season.
Removing Anunoby from the equation could give Barnes and Siakam an opportunity in the coming weeks to show that they can thrive alongside one another, but Anunoby is a better shooter and floor-spacer than Siakam and was widely considered to be the better complementary piece for Barnes.
Reports have indicated that the Raptors have “no appetite” for a teardown or rebuild, and the return in the Anunoby trade reflects that, as the team opted for two young building blocks rather than attempting to load up on future draft picks. If Toronto makes a move with Siakam, the club would presumably seek a similar kind of package.