Getty Image / Anatoliy Cherkasov
This offseason has been a surprisingly quiet one for the Toronto Raptors.
After firing head coach Nick Nurse and replacing him with Darko Rajakovic, it was expected that the franchise would start making moves to begin rebuilding their roster.
They saw star point guard Fred VanVleet leave in free agency and fans have been waiting for Pascal Siakam to be the next veteran leaving Toronot.
While a deal has still yet to materialize for Siakam to play for somebody other than the Raptors for the first time in his NBA career, it seems that deal should be on the way.
While speaking to GiveMeSport, NBA reporter Mark Medina revealed that it seems inevitable that Siakam will be traded.
Pascal Siakam’s tenure with the Toronto Raptors may be coming to an end, with reports that they are looking to trade him elsewhere. https://t.co/f4KLvmM556
— GiveMeSport (@GiveMeSport) August 7, 2023
“It seems inevitable the Toronto Raptors will deal Siakam. It’s become increasingly clear the Raptors are not currently constructed to become a serious playoff threat. So what’s the point in running on empty calories just to finish in the middle of the standings?
It seems unpredictable, however, on when the Raptors trade Siakam. They expect a strong deal for return in the form of quality rotation players, expiring contracts and draft picks, all qualities that help accelerate a rebuild.”
The Raptors have already received an offer from the big man according NBA insider Shams Charania. That offer reportedly came from the Atlanta Hawks and included De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin, and draft compensation.
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— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 8, 2023
At this point, trading Siakam is the only thing that makes sense for the Toronto Raptors.
The team wasn’t all that good a year ago and now they’ve lost their starting point guard. They have some solid young pieces that could be the center pieces of a strong team down the road.
They just aren’t there yet and trading Pascal Siakam can help the Raptors get more pieces for the future that they can surround that young core with.
Keeping him likely won’t do much for the Raptors this season aside from making sure they get a worse draft pick for next year.
Luckily, it seems that won’t be an issue and now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what team he gets traded to.