SAN FRANCISCO – It is impossible to escape the Pascal Siakam trade chatter, it follows the Raptors like a stench anywhere they go.
Sacramento is a possibility one day. Atlanta may still be in the hunt. How about Dallas or Indiana or right here in California’s Bay Area where the howls are sure to grow when the Raptors face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night?
It’s inescapable until the Raptors do the one logical thing that will silence it all: Make the right offer to convince Siakam it’s worth extending his Toronto career a few more years.
It’s not going to be cheap. But if the Raptors have to go north of $40 million (U.S.) a year on a three- or four-year deal and give Siakam a player option after two or three years, they should.
He is that talented, a top-tier NBA talent without question, and if he becomes a free agent in the summer, he’s going to get maximum-value offers elsewhere.
How would he look beside Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, where the Spurs are flush with cap space? Would he be the final piece for the ascending Orlando Magic?
Charlotte, Detroit and Utah are far less likely, given where those franchises are, but each would be wrong to not make a call to his agents should he reach unrestricted free agency in July.
The Raptors would take summer suitors out of the race if they locked up Siakam. It also would send a signal that Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster see a path forward with this current group, and they would give it time to breathe and grow.
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But if the Raptors are looking at trade options, the price to acquire Siakam is steep, according to several NBA sources.
He’s relatively young — “The youngest 29-year-old in the league. He really takes care of his body with lifting, with nutrition, with everything that he can do,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said — he has been healthy and durable, missing only 15 games over the last two-and-a-half seasons and, most importantly, he’s very, very good.
Siakam has made two all-NBA teams, been an all-star twice and remains Toronto’s most consistent performer, especially offensively.
In his last five games, he has averaged 28 points, 5.2 rebounds and five assists per game while shooting 57 per cent from the field, a stunning 73 per cent from three-point range and 75 per cent from the free-throw line.
Know this: If the Raptors let Siakam walk, they’ll be searching for years and years for someone with even close to his skills to replace him.
And if they are thinking about moving him before the Feb. 8 trade deadline, they better be looking for a monster haul.
Team officials around the league and some agents think the Raptors will, and should be, looking for a young, promising frontcourt player, at least one other rotational bit and at least one draft pick in any transaction in the next month.
That’s big price but Ujiri and Webster have proven in the past they are patient and need major compensation for dealing away one of the team’s best players.
They took weeks to consummate a major trade with the Knicks before getting two young starters and a second-round pick basically for OG Anunoby, since neither Precious Achiuwa nor Malachi Flynn figured in the team’s long-term plans.
If they exacted that package for Anunoby, there’s no reason to think they’d settle for anything less for Siakam.
The Knicks trade reverberated around the league but it hasn’t slowed the rampant talk about Siakam’s future.
The Raptors can’t get away from the speculation unless they avoid the media — social and traditional — entirely. And while it’s possible that players and coaches can individually shut off from the world, their families, friends and agents are always tuned into the chatter.
All it takes is one “hey, did you hear …” text message and the cone of silence is shattered.
“Obviously it’s never easy to hear that kind of stuff but as much as you can block the outside noise and focus on (the job, the better),” Rajakovic said Friday night in Sacramento. “At the end of the day, we are very blessed to do what we do, play basketball, to enjoy the game, and to go out every single day and compete out there.
“As much as we can keep our mind on that and our focus on that, it seems better for everybody.”
Siakam has maintained a silence on his long-term future, and the Raptors certainly don’t leak information.
But signing him to a new deal signals a commitment and stops the noise before it becomes deafening leading up to the trade deadline.
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