The entire NBA is watching the Toronto Raptors, as the team seems to be the fulcrum behind the NBA trade deadline. The team has various valuable players that could be the answer for many teams around the league. However, breaking this core up depends on whether Masai Ujiri wants to start selling the roster he carefully constructed.
Pascal Siakam is one of the Raptors’ biggest success stories, with the team developing him from being a late first-round pick to being an NBA Champion and an All-NBA player. However, his position on the Raptors at age 28 seems to be hurting the younger timeline the team is looking to have alongside reigning Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes. Barnes is the only untouchable player on the Raptors roster, with a Siakam trade expected to be the first sign of a Raptors rebuild.
Siakam, 28, continues to be Toronto’s top offensive option, averaging a team-high 25.7 points per game to go along with 8.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. If the Raptors ever decide to trade him he’d have plenty of suitors and it would signal a full rebuild around the team’s younger players. (h/t Bleacher Report)
So who are the best fits for Siakam out of the many suitors he is expected to have? We have found 3 teams that should do whatever they can to bring Siakam into their roster.
3. Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Pascal Siakam and Precious Achuiwa
Toronto Raptors Receive: Jusuf Nurkic, Josh Hart, Shaedon Sharpe, Nassir Little, and 2024 First-Round Pick From The Blazers (Unprotected)
The Portland Trail Blazers need to push their chips into the middle and start finding major ways to give Damian Lillard the elite supporting cast he needs. After their shock loss to the Lakers, the Blazers are 21-25 and the 13th seed in the Western Conference. Instead of being lottery fodder for another season, the Blazers can push toward contention by giving up a lot of their current depth for an All-NBA caliber player like Pascal Siakam.
The Blazers will part with two starters in Nurkic and Hart, allowing the Raptors to get two complementary players alongside their current core. Shaedon Sharpe is a high-potential youngster who can subsidize the cost of adding extra picks, allowing the Blazers to maintain future flexibility in additional trades. Siakam will be under contract until the end of 2024 and be on an average salary of $34,226,304, meaning they can continue contending the season they owe the pick to the Raptors.
Precious Achuiwa coming in the deal also allows the Blazers to have a versatile bench big. The Raptors will have to waive a player to make the deal work, so Juancho Hernangomez might be the one to be released from the squad.
Siakam can play in multiple lineups for the Blazers, both as a small-ball center or in his traditional power forward role, moving Jerami Grant to the wing. With Lillard and Anfernee Simons as the backcourt, this quartet will be among the best in the NBA and could instantly put fire into the Blazers’ push for a title with Lillard. They will control all their other future picks to make moves to support this lineup if they so choose.
2. Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns Receive: Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors Receive: Deandre Ayton And 2025 First-Round Pick From The Suns (Unprotected)
The Phoenix Suns have been trying to make Deandre Ayton work as their center but have not seen the results from the man they re-signed in the offseason. The Raptors were allegedly interested in acquiring Ayton before he signed with the Indiana Pacers, bringing up the question of whether the Raptors could use the trade market to get him back on the roster. Given the way Siakam has been playing, the Suns should be more than willing to throw in one first-round pick if it can get them a proven champion and All-NBA star in return.
Ayton will need to agree to the trade as he has a no-trade clause due to the Suns matching an offer sheet he received from Indiana. Given the project in Toronto still has an extremely positive outlook, the team could finally plug the hole at center that has bothered them since Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka left the squad. The relationship between Ayton and the Suns has been frosty for a while, and this allows both player and team to go their separate ways. Siakam would be a terror next to Devin Booker and Chris Paul, so this is a trade that’ll interest them.
The Suns have more flexibility even after this to further improve their roster, so being major buyers can catapult the 24-24 Suns back to being among the best teams in the West.
1. Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors Receive: Tim Hardaway Jr, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green, 2026 First-Round Pick, And 2028 First-Round Pick From The Mavericks (Unprotected)
Is Siakam the star the Mavericks finally go all-in on to get Luka Doncic, the co-star he deserves? Siakam’s skill set would instantly improve the Mavericks, as he is a mobile big that doesn’t need the ball at all times to dominate. Doncic would create some incredible opportunities for Siakam and also know that he has an offensive threat that can take some pressure off him. The price they will pay for it might be higher than most fans wants, but it is likely going to be the cost of an All-NBA talent like Siakam.
Parting ways with Dorian Finney-Smith will be extremely tough for Mavericks fans, but his long-term contract and fit with the Raptors as a versatile forward would entice the team. Tim Hardaway Jr.’s contract is not ideal, and that makes the Mavs add an extra pick alongside developing talent in Josh Green. The Mavericks haven’t received enough production from him yet, and they could trade in his future upside for a win-now player.
Given the roster the Mavs had and the success they’ve enjoyed this season, it is quite remarkable. The injuries through the season to players like DFS and Green have affected them, but the boat has been steady despite their absence. This trade would also allow the Mavs to finally give a bigger opportunity to rookie Jaden Hardy to take over the THJ’s role, as the Mavs can make moves with second-round picks to add some more rotational players to refine their roster.
After they pay off the 2023 pick they owe the Knicks, the Mavs will have a few more picks to fine-tune the roster in the summer and then have the flexibility to go after a marquee free agent and re-sign Siakam in 2024.
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