Pascal Siakam has officially left the team becoming the latest Toronto Raptors star to change scenery. Siakam was steadily in the trade block since the start of the season and saw a rocky stint with the franchise came to an end as the Cameroonian continued to produce in high level but the Raptors never had a clear path to win a title again.
Siakam represented everything the Raptors achieved under Masai Ujiri. The forward rose to prominence at the right time to help franchise legend Kyle Lowry and an one-year star rental Kawhi Leonard lead the Raptors to their first championship in the history of the franchise. Siakam was a big part of what the Raptors accomplished, as the franchise also remained competitive for the next couple of seasons even without Lowry and Leonard as the stars.
Last summer, Fred VanVleet, another vital part of the Raptors’ historic championship run in 2019, opt to leave the team in free agency as the Raptors never tried to keep the undersized guard. Now, with Pascal Siakam entering the last months of his current deal, the Raptors appeared to be in the same situation as the 2-times All-Star was expected to demand a max deal that the franchise would not be willing to offer.
With the February deadline approaching, the Indiana Pacers appeared willingly wanted to pair the All-Star forward with their superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Indiana sent three first-round picks and salary fillers to Toronto in order to bring the Cameroonian to the MidWest. Siakam wanted to play alongside Haliburton and he’s likely to be offered a lucrative deal, per The Athletic.
From the G League to an NBA championship
Siakam started his NBA career on a low note being a late first-round pick while the Toronto Raptors were trying to become a true title contending team led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The “We The North” era was a fun one for the Raptors’ fans at least in the start. Things quickly got dicey for them when they were repeatdly got outed by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs.
The “We the North” Raptors era came to an end with a feel of uncompletedness at the time but the winning environment helped younger players to rise to the occasion and become valued members of the squad. Siakam was the first Raptors’ rookie to start in an opening game after Jonas Valanciunas in a 4-year span. The Raptors believed in him from the start.
During his first season, Siakam did spend some time in the G League and helped the Raptors 905 become champions the same season. The Raptors affiliate faced the Rio Grande Vipers in the Finals and won the series 2-1 as Siakam averaged 23 points and 9 rebounds and was named the G-League Finals MVP.
Siakam continued his development, starting in a combined 43 games in his rookie and sophomore season. He skyrocketed in production during his third season (2018-2019) averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists to win the Most Improved Player award. More importantly, Siakam played a huge role in the Raptors’ first championship.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Siakam helped Toronto defeat Milwaukee in double-overtime, 118–112, putting up 25 points and bringing down 11 rebounds. The win cut the Bucks’ series lead to 2–1. He had 18 points in the series-clinching 100-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6.
In Game 1 of the 2019 Finals, Siakam scored a then playoff career-high 32 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks on 14-of-17 shooting from the field in a 118–109 victory over the Golden State Warriors. In Game 6, Siakam recorded a team high 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and hit the clinching shot of the series over Draymond Green.
All-Star nod and Raptors gradational mediocrity
The Raptors knew that they had a superstar in their hands and handed Siakam a 4-year deal worth $130 million. Siakam was not a one-hit wonder and after his excellent playoff run that resulted in a championship, he registered his first All-Star nod and became the first player to compete in the All-Star Game after starting in the G League. In the same year, he also received his first All-NBA nod being part of the All-NBA Second Team.
In the meantime, the Raptors remained competitive and made a relatively successful NBA title defense as they finished the season with a 53–19 record (in a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Boston Celtics in seven games. However, with the situation being tough due to COVID restrictions, the franchise had to move to Tampa for the next year.
Kyle Lowry finished his successful stint with the Raptors away from Toronto as in August of 2021 moved to the Miami Heat. Siakam and VanVleet remained as their only representatives of the 2019 historic run (OG Anunoby was also part of the Raptors, but had a minimal role in the playoffs). Siakam continued to put up numbers and earn individual accolades, but the Raptors were unable to go past the other East powerhouses.
After their strange season (27-45) in Tampa, Siakam found himself playing alongside 4th overall pick Scottie Barnes becoming the mentor and the veteran of a team that had started to get younger during the 2022-23 season. The clock towards the inevitable change of guard started to ticking as the team was unable to form a steady winning formula.
The Raptors returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence and clinched their eighth appearance in nine seasons. However, they were eliminated by the 76ers in six games in the first round after being down 3–0 in that series. They were clear signs of decline in Raptors’ ability to be good in the postseason.
Things got much worse during the 2022-23 season as the Raptors did not make the playoffs and fired Nick Nurse in April after finishing 41-41. The lack of help in Siakam’s side was evident from that fact that the 2-time All-NBA selection averaged 37.4 minutes per game after registering 34 minutes in the previous season.
With Raptors being away from a playoff berth and Siakam’s contract coming to an end at the end of this summer, the franchise was looking into ways of trading away the Cameroonian forward. Emotion was played a factor in this case, but the OG Anunoby trade was the first step that showed that Masai Ujiri finally decided to move on from the last pieces of the 2019 NBA champions.
That said, Siakam will move to a team in Indiana which has been on the rise since last February with Tyrese Haliburton leading the way. Siakam left his beloved Toronto after creating a beautiful story with the team’s first NBA championship and his rise to stardom. Maybe he has another story to tell with the Pacers.
Pascal Siakam is expected to debut for the Pacers tomorrow in Portland, sources tell @andscape. https://t.co/ko57n9CwIZ
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 19, 2024
