Rumour Roundup: Where in the World is Pascal Siakam going?

With the NBA Trade Deadline inching closer and closer, the biggest name circulating the market is Pascal Siakam.

If you’re reading this, you (like me) are probably refreshing your phone every ten seconds looking for updates about Pascal Siakam’s future.

I wasn’t alive in the 70s, but this feels like the closest I’m going to get to living out the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album, because this man’s name is EVERYWHERE this week.

*(sidenote that Everywhere was on the Tango In The Night album and not the Rumours album, which I’m sure you’re aware of, reader).

I won’t ramble for too long — below is a round up of all the latest Siakam news circulating the web.

Siakam’s Contract Predicament

Maybe you don’t even know why this Siakam news is so important, so let’s start with that.

Siakam’s contract is about to expire after this season is over, and he is set to become a free agent.

He wants to sign a contract that will allow him to be paid a lot of money. Which, if you’ve ever watched the guy play basketball, is fair.

Siakam also wants to win basketball games, be valued by his team, and play a big role on his team. All fair.

The only way Pascal will NOT become a free agent in the summer is if he signs a contract extension, but there are rules around that in his current contract.

Right now, he could only sign a two-year extension with a team that he gets traded to, or a four-year extension with the Raptors — per his contract.

What Siakam does not have control over: Where he gets traded if the Raptors decide to trade him.

What Siakam does have control over: Whether or not he signs an extension, and where he signs in the summer if he becomes a free agent.

The thing with these trade is that teams are talking with the Toronto Raptors to see what the deal would be, and THEN reaching out to Siakam’s agents to see whether or not he would sign with them as free agent or sign an extension.

If Siakam says no, he won’t sign, what’s the point of a team giving away what the Raptors want for Siakam just to lose out on him in four months?

That’s where the power Siakam has really comes into play.

That scenario played out when the Raptors were talking with Sacramento. Siakam said he wouldn’t resign, the Kings didn’t want to give up Keegan Murray — talks over.

Now, in case you’re wondering what I think — I think the Raptors should have extended Siakam like six months ago. Thrown the bag at him. Given him whatever he wanted to stay. He’s the best player on the team right now and, frankly, it’s weird that they wouldn’t want him.

With that part out there, let’s go rumour by rumour. Stevie Nicks style — except I can’t sing so it’s in words.

Will Toronto Extend?

Toronto extending Siakam’s contract is not entirely out of the realm of possibility at this point. Hey, maybe all these rumours of him wanting to leave the Raptors will kick them into offering him something he wants.

According to our good friend and Instagram Threads enthusiast, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it seems the Raptors and Siakam aren’t close to coming to an agreement when it comes to extension.

Yet, in Jake Fischer’s latest podcast the other day, HE said that he is “skeptical” that Siakam gets moved at all.

The plot thickens, when on Friday afternoon Chris Haynes said that the Raptors and Siakam are “on the verge of parting ways.”

So where does that leave the Raptors? Are they gonna hope they can extend Siakam at a later time? Are they gonna try to retain him in free agency? Are they gonna let him walk?

With truly every person out there having a different opinion on this, it’s hard to guess where the Raptors OR Siakam stand on him staying with the team.

Siakam Deal with Indiana Pacers

Out of all the different scenarios regarding where Pascal Siakam could potentially be traded to, the Indiana Pacers seem to be the most intrigued suitor at this point.

In that same segment where Woj said Toronto and Siakam were nowhere near an extension agreement, he also said that the Pacers are a “legitimate threat” to sign Siakam to a max contract in the offseason.

With that in mind, the Raptors may try and trade Siakam to the Pacers in order to get some return to him. The Pacers may be more willing to make a deal with the assurance that Siakam could re-sign in the summer.

The thing is, Masai has a price. Woj is saying that price is one of Bennedict Mathurin (Canada Baskeball riseeee) or Jarace Walker.

It seems Indiana does not want to part with either of those young players.

Toronto prioritized young promising talent over draft picks when it came to their trade with the New York Knicks a few weeks ago, and with the way the draft has worked out for Toronto over the past few years (Scottie Barnes aside) that makes sense.

Plus, building a team around Scottie Barnes NOW instead of waiting to draft and develop these picks seems like a better scenario for the team.

So, Indiana could be a landing place for Siakam — either now or in the summer.

Siakam Goes to the Bay

The Golden State Warriors, desperate to salvage their season, have also come up in Siakam rumours.

The Warriors seem to be interested in Siakam, and there are a few pieces I’m sure the Raptors would enjoy to get back in return.

Yet, it seems the “long-term payroll ramifications” seem to be a barrier, according to Woj.

Siakam obviously wants a max-deal, there are a lot of rules regarding that now in the new NBA CBA, and not all teams could afford to give him that.

That was the issue with Toronto prior to the O.G. Anunoby trade — Toronto couldn’t afford to give BOTH players that kinda money.

So it doesn’t seem like the Warriors are a true contender.

Siakam Leaves Regardless

Apparently Siakam wants to take the first Uber out of Toronto via the Don Valley Parkway. He can afford Toronto Uber prices, remember.

Chris Haynes seems to think the Raptors and Siakam will part soon.

The worst case scenario is the Raptors not trading him, and then he signs with a new team in the summer, and the Raptors get nothing back for him.

AKA, the same thing that happened with Fred VanVleet last year.

Another little rumour — it seems a “Western Conference Executive” thinks that Siakam could go to a random left field team — like the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls are looking to deal Zach LaVine before the deadline, but at what price?

The Kings, as we discussed, seem to be OUT. They didn’t want to part with Murray and Siakam didn’t want to stay — that’s last week news.

There haven’t been many stirrings of Atlanta Hawks scenarios out there, despite them being the biggest name in Siakam talks earlier in the season and last summer. It seems the two teams couldn’t come to an agreement.

Back to what I think: if he wants out, and there is no chance of him re-signing with Toronto — they NEED return for him. To have this happen two years in a row with two All-Star NBA Champions would be such a blow to the Raptors.

Yet, it is SO HARD to predict what this front office will do. Think about the Anunoby trade — there were NO rumours about that, no rumblings, no scoop. We just woke up and it was done. That’s how Masai Ujiri rolls.

Anyway, that’s the Second Hand News. Do you have any Dreams on where Siakam goes? Is he set on Never Going Back Again to Toronto? Don’t Stop refreshing your feeds, since you could Go Your Own Way just as news is dropping. Woj is quite the Songbird when it comes to The Chain of NBA news. Plus, You Make Loving (Basketball) Fun, and I Don’t Want to Know what it would be like if you, reader, were not caught up on the latest trade slop.

There are two Rumours songs left, but Oh Daddy and Gold Dust Woman aren’t the most appropriate titles to insert into a blog.

Either way, let’s see if we last through the weekend without anymore Raptors related breaking news.