Pascal Siakam

Raptors Notes: Poeltl, Deadline Primer, Trade Tiers, Quickley

January 25th, 2024 at 3:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl was able to go through portions of Wednesday’s practice but he still hasn’t been cleared for contact work, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Head coach Darko Rajakovic said Poeltl is working on his conditioning after being out since January 7 with a left ankle sprain, and the Austrian big man is considered day-to-day.

Toronto reacquired Poeltl last February, when the team sent out its 2024 first-round pick (top-six protected) to San Antonio. Poeltl, who has averaged 10.6 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.4 BPG in 36 games this season, re-signed with the Raptors on a four-year, $78MM deal last summer.

The roster looks a lot different now than it did last year, with veterans Fred VanVleet (signed with Houston in free agency), OG Anunoby (traded to New York) and Pascal Siakam (traded to Indiana) all on new teams. Poeltl said it was difficult to see Siakam go, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link).

“It was tough because he was the guy I was closest to on this team,” Poeltl said of Siakam. “… I guess I was mentally prepared for it a little bit already because there were so many rumors… but it’s still really sad for me to basically lose my best friend on the team.”

With Toronto now focused on developing its young players rather than competing for a playoff spot, Lewenberg asked Poeltl if the team’s change of direction made him question the decision to re-sign or ponder his future with the Raptors (Twitter link).

“Not necessarily,” Poeltl said. “The only thing that was important to me is that I was on a team that could play competitive basketball. As long as it’s not a team that was really actively trying to tank, I guess, was the thing for me. Like, I want to play on a team that’s trying to win every night.

“So, for me, even though had some changes and we lost some really good players, I think we’re still on a course where we’re trying to build around this team right now and were not hunting for a No. 1 draft pick, you know what I mean? So as long as that’s the case, I think I’m going to be happy here and I’m hoping to contribute to this new Raptors team, this new project that we’re starting.”

Here’s more on the Raptors, who are currently 16-28 after dropping seven of their past eight games:

On a related topic, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca wonders if fans should be cheering for the Raptors to lose for the remainder of 2023/24 in order to keep their first-round pick. As previously mentioned, Toronto will only keep the pick if it lands in the top six of the upcoming draft; in that scenario, the Spurs would be owed the Raptors’ 2025 first-rounder, with the same top-six protection. On the other hand, Grange notes that the 2025 draft is viewed by scouts and executives as having more top-end talent compared to 2024; the No. 7 or No. 8 pick in ’25 could be end up being quite a bit more valuable than a top-six pick this year.
Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca recently released a trade deadline primer that covers Toronto’s cap situation, draft assets, player assets, exceptions, restrictions (newly acquired players can’t be aggregated with other salaries), and more.
The only “untouchable” player on Toronto’s roster is Scottie Barnes, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who believes the third-year forward will sign a rookie scale max extension this summer. Koreen also thinks “it would be aggressively weird” if RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, Jordan Nwora or Kira Lewis were traded. Veterans like Bruce Brown, Gary Trent Jr., Dennis Schröder, Chris Boucher and Poeltl fall into Koreen’s “Selling with hopes of a return” trade tier, though he doesn’t think Poeltl will actually be moved.
Starting guard Quickley has been ruled out for Friday’s contest with the Clippers due to a thigh bruise, Murphy tweets. Quickley, acquired from New York in the Anunoby deal, is averaging 16.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 6.1 APG through 12 games (31.8 MPG) as a Raptor. The 24-year-old will be traveling on the upcoming six-game road trip, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star (Twitter link), which suggests it may be a short-term injury.

Central Notes: Griffin, Lillard, Pacers, Cunningham

January 24th, 2024 at 5:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

The tensions that led to the Bucks‘ decision to fire head coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday stemmed from a loss of their defensive identity, according to Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier of ESPN. A source tells the authors there was a “constant” string of internal conversations about why the team was falling short of expectations, even though Milwaukee is tied for the second-best record in the league at 30-13.

Griffin had a reputation as a defensive specialist after building the Raptors’ defense that resulted in a championship in 2019, and he impressed general manager Jon Horst and other team officials during the interview process with his ideas for the Bucks’ defense, according to Shelburne and Collier.

However, the aggressive scheme that Griffin implemented wasn’t popular with players, who couldn’t understand why center Brook Lopez was being taken out of drop coverage after finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, sources tell the authors. The new approach, which also included attacking ball-handlers far away from the basket, helped Milwaukee rise from 27th to fourth in the league in deflections, but the team ranked last in field goal percentage at the rim after five games before Griffin relented following a meeting with his top players.

Even though the Bucks kept winning, the defense never showed significant improvement, which caused the organization to lose its faith in Griffin. Shelburne and Collier note that former coaches reached out to Griffin to offer advice, including Lionel Hollins and Doc Rivers, who the authors say became a mentor to Griffin before ultimately replacing him in the job.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Fixing the Bucks‘ defense isn’t the only priority for Rivers as he takes over, observes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Damian Lillard is suffering through one of the worst shooting seasons of his career, connecting at just 42.7% from the field and 35.1% from three-point range, which are his lowest figures in nearly a decade. Nehm suggests that creating more pick-and-roll opportunities for Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo might be one of Rivers’ solutions.
The Pacers have a lot more options on defense after trading for Pascal Siakam, notes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Coach Rick Carlisle already took steps to improve atrocious defensive numbers early in the season by moving Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith into the starting lineup late last month. There has been progress, as Dopirak points out that the team is 19th in points allowed and 17th in defensive rating over its last 15 games.
The Pistons considered having Cade Cunningham return tonight, but coach Monty Williams will give him at least one more game off to recover from a left knee strain, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “We felt like we were in a good place, but decided to make sure he’s in a good place before he’s out there,” Williams said in a pregame meeting with reporters. Cunningham was originally listed as probable before downgraded to questionable and then out.

Central Notes: Beasley, Siakam, Nance, Pistons

January 21st, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Speaking to Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link), Bucks shooting guard Malik Beasley explained the thinking behind his decision to sign Milwaukee over the summer when he reached unrestricted free agency.

“Definitely wanted to win a championship, that was one of my goals,” Beasley said. “I felt that I’m at a point in my career where I just want to win and do whatever I can for the team. With the Bucks I felt like the dynamic of Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and being able to space the floor for them, I felt like that was huge. I looked into all that, making sure I would be able to get some reps, making sure I’d be able to get some playing time.”

“I do feel like I’m one of the best shooters in the league,” Beasley added. “I’m not try to be cocky or anything, I’m just confident.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Pascal Siakam‘s new Pacers teammates were encouraged by his strong debut for the club, a 21-point showing in a 118-115 loss to the Trail Blazers, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “We were just learning how to go on the fly, just going off our basketball brains,” All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “It’s like playing pickup a little bit out there. That’s the exciting part for us I think is we get back here is, we played alright, but there’s so much more room for us.”
Cavaliers 10-day signee Pete Nance is reveling in his opportunity to play for his favorite team, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “It’s surreal,” Nance told Fedor. “The goal was to get a call-up from the G League at some point, but to have it be the Cavs, it’s just a really cool thing for me. I’m super excited. I grew up a lifelong Cavs fan. Something I’ve thought about my whole life. I’ve been working for this my whole life. It’s a dream come true.” Pete’s father Larry Nance played for the Cavs from 1988-94, while his brother Larry Nance Jr. was with the team from 2018-21.
The struggling Pistons face an intriguing trade deadline. In a new reader mailbag, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required) unpacks Detroit’s options, suggesting that the team will essentially view the trade deadline as an opportunity to get a head-start on the offseason by adding players who will be with the team beyond this season.

And-Ones: Yabusele, All-Stars, Shannon, Awards

January 20th, 2024 at 2:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele, currently a member of Real Madrid, likely won’t be looking to return stateside anytime in the near future, he said in an interview with French outlet L’Equipe.

“I would like to return to the NBA, but I play for the best team in Europe and win championships,” Yabusele said (hat tip to Eurohoops). “Why would I leave that to sit on a bench? I will join the French National Team after the end of the season this summer, so I am waiting for the Olympics, not the NBA.”

The 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Yabusele joined the Celtics in 2017 and spent two seasons in Boston, appearing in 74 total games and seeing limited action. He averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per contest.

The 6’8″ forward, who is now 28, has had more success since returning to Europe in 2020. Yabusele won a French League (LNB Pro A) title with ASVEL in 2021, a Spanish League (Liga ACB) title with Real Madrid in 2022, and a EuroLeague championship in 2023 while playing a key role for his teams.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Zach Harper of The Athletic previews what this year’s All-Star rosters might look like and considers which players could be left on the outside looking in. The Western Conference backcourt will be especially competitive, according to Harper, who suggests that star guards like Devin Booker and De’Aaron Fox aren’t locks to be All-Stars.
A federal judge reinstated Illinois wing Terrence Shannon Jr. on Friday, ending his suspension and ruling that the university had violated his civil rights by depriving him of “protected property interests” without due process, according to John O’Connor of The Associated Press. Shannon, who had been considered a probable first-round pick in the 2024 draft, was suspended indefinitely by Illinois after being accused of rape last month.
Dan Devine of The Ringer picks his award winners for the first half of the 2023/24 season, including narrowly choosing Sixers star Joel Embiid over Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as the MVP so far.
John Hollinger of The Athletic poses a few questions for the Pacers and Raptors in the wake of their Pascal Siakam blockbuster, including what Siakam’s next contract will look like and whether Toronto will look to tank in the second half in an effort to hang onto its top-six protected first-round pick for 2024.

Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Siakam, Turner, Carlisle

January 19th, 2024 at 7:34pm CST by Rory Maher

Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton will return to action on Friday vs. Portland after missing the past five games with a hamstring strain, he announced on Twitter.

Haliburton is ahead of schedule, as he was originally expected to miss at least a couple weeks. At the time, there was a sense of relief that the injury, which he sustained vs. Boston on January 8, was not more serious.

The 12th pick of the 2020 draft, Haliburton has been one of the standout players of the 2023/24 season thus far, leading the NBA by averaging 12.5 assists per game while only turning the ball over 2.6 times a night, an elite 4.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

In addition to his terrific vision, basketball IQ and passing ability, Haliburton is also an extremely efficient scorer, averaging a career-best 23.6 PPG on .497/.403/.868 shooting in 33 games this season (33.4 MPG).

Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported on Thursday (Twitter link) that Pascal Siakam was expected to make his Pacers debut in Portland on Friday and that will indeed be the case, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two-time All-NBA forward was recently acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Raptors.

Here’s more on the Pacers:

Multiple reports indicated that Siakam was enthusiastic about the opportunity to play with Haliburton, and Wojnarowski said on his podcast that star players around the league admire the guard’s “unselfish” game, suggesting it could be a key to future roster upgrades (hat tip to Evan Sidery). “They look at how much fun it is to play there,” Wojnarowski said. “How much fun (Haliburton) is to play with. How unselfish he is. And it sometimes allows you to play up in class in terms of your market. He makes up for the difference that a Midwestern market might’ve had trouble keeping the guy.”
Count Myles Turner among the players excited about Siakam’s addition, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “Everybody sees this as a win-now move,” Turner said. “It’s an exciting move and a big move at the same time just to have someone who’s an All-Star and a 20-point-a-night scorer come into an organization like this, especially one that’s building and trying to get to a place that he’s been before (winning a championship).”
Head coach Rick Carlisle also spoke about Siakam on Thursday, as Dopirak relays. “We like him very much,” Carlisle said. “Been a long-time admirer. He has some unique skills for the 4 position. I even believe he can play some 3. I know he can play some small ball 5. I’ve just heard many, many great things about him as a person, as a professional, as a worker, as a teammate. Obviously, he’s been named to multiple All-Stars, multiple all-leagues, he’s done it at a high level. We think we’re getting him at a perfect time in his career.”

Trade Rumors: Bucks, Murray, Nets, Sixers, Brown, Heat, More

January 19th, 2024 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are among the teams registering interest in trading for Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link). Haynes’ report doesn’t include any details beyond that, so it’s unclear what sort of package a Bucks team short on trade assets might be willing to offer for Murray.

It’s safe to assume Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard aren’t going anywhere, which means a Milwaukee offer would need to be built around either Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, or, more likely, a Bobby Portis/Pat Connaughton combo. No other players on the roster earn enough to viably match Murray’s $18MM+ salary (a package that includes only one of Portis or Connaughton could technically work, but would need to be at least a four-for-one or five-for one deal).

Middleton, Lopez, Portis, and Connaughton have all played significant roles in Milwaukee for the last few seasons. Middleton and Lopez, in particular, have been mainstays in the Bucks’ starting lineup for many years, while Portis and Connaughton have been among the team’s first players off the bench. All four were major contributors to the championship team in 2021.

Still, as the Bucks showed when they included Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen in their package for Lillard in September, they’re willing to send out key rotation players in a trade if they believe the deal raises their ceiling. And with no first-round picks and only two second-rounders left to deal, the Bucks would need to send out a quality player or two to be a contender in the Murray sweepstakes.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

Responding to colleagues Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon, who argued on The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the Nets should be sellers at the trade deadline, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested that’s not necessarily the way the team is leaning. “I can’t speak to what the Nets are thinking right this very second, but the word through the NBA is the Nets are attempting to be buyers,” Windhorst said. Brooklyn doesn’t control its own 2024 first-round pick, which will be sent to Houston.
Despite some speculation that he could be a trade deadline target, the Sixers are unlikely to pursue Raptors guard Bruce Brown, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Appearing on the Locked on Heat podcast (Twitter video link), Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports suggested that the Heat aren’t explicitly shopping Kyle Lowry and Nikola Jovic, but they’re among the players on the roster who are considered by potential trade partners to be available.
Within his latest Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Zach Lowe shares a couple of notable trade-related tidbits. According to Lowe, before trading for Pascal Siakam, the Pacers were one of several teams to reach out to the Jazz about Lauri Markkanen, but Utah showed zero interest in moving him. Additionally, Lowe says that the Spurs reached out to the Hawks to explore the possibility of a reversal of sorts to their 2022 Dejounte Murray deal, but those talks don’t appear to have gotten far.

Raptors Notes: Brown, Trent, Schröder, Siakam, Barnes, Lewis

January 19th, 2024 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

After a hectic 30-plus hours that saw him fly from Sacramento to Indiana to Toronto, Bruce Brown was available to make his Raptors debut on Thursday night vs. Chicago, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links).

While newcomers Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis were also cleared to play, Brown was the only one of the three to see any action and he responded in impressive fashion, scoring 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds off the bench. Toronto lost the game 116-110, but Brown was a +11 in his 25 minutes.

Thursday’s performance showed how Brown could fit on the Raptors’ new-look roster, but it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll finish the season with the club. Exploring that subject on the latest episode of FanDuel’s Run it Back show (YouTube link), Shams Charania of The Athletic suggested that Toronto could probably net a first-round pick or a “boatload” of second-rounders for Brown in a pre-deadline deal, adding that there will be “no shortage of suitors” for the 27-year-old guard/forward.

According to Charania, Brown, Gary Trent Jr., and Dennis Schröder are among the Raptors veterans worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks, since they may not be part of the team’s plans beyond this season and they’d appeal to playoff teams on the trade market.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Following his trade to Indiana, longtime Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who spent the first seven-and-a-half years of his career with the franchise, wrote in The Players’ Tribune about how much his time in Toronto meant to him and why it’s hard to say goodbye.
As long as Siakam was on the roster, the Raptors were able to hedge their bet on Scottie Barnes‘ ascent to franchise cornerstone, letting Siakam take the reins while the former Rookie of the Year grew into that role, Lewenberg writes at TSN.ca. Now that Siakam is a Pacer, there will be increased pressure on Barnes to develop into the type of star Toronto envisions, Lewenberg notes. “The goal is to help Scottie improve and get better every single day, every single night as a leader, as a franchise player and to build a roster around him that’s going to help him to grow,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said.
Turning the Raptors’ roster from its current state into one capable of contending for a title may be Masai Ujiri‘s biggest challenge since he was hired by the organization, says Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The Raptors president acknowledged that he won’t be able to skip steps during the process. “I don’t know if to call this a rebuild or a reset or however we want to put it,” Ujiri said. “But a normal rebuild with other teams takes five [or] six years. Do we have the patience for that? You know? Like do we have the patience for three-to-five years building of our team? Some way, somehow we are going to have to have patience.”
After he traded popular Raptor DeMar DeRozan and fired head coach Dwane Casey following a Coach of the Year season, Ujiri earned a reputation for being a cold and calculated decision-maker. However, he hasn’t necessarily operated that way in recent years, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who considers whether the club would benefit from Ujiri being “a little colder” in his roster decisions.
The Raptors have assigned the newly acquired Lewis to the G League, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. A player with at least three years of NBA service must give his consent to be assigned to the NBAGL, but Lewis approved multiple assignments to the Birmingham Squadron earlier this season in order to get more frequent playing time and it appears he’ll do the same with his new team.

Stein’s Latest: Raptors, Siakam Trade, Brown, Knicks Targets, More

January 18th, 2024 at 5:40pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Raptors don’t regret not moving Fred VanVleet last trade deadline before he departed that summer in free agency, Marc Stein details in his latest Substack post. Raptors president Masai Ujiri conveyed a similar sentiment earlier on Thursday. As Stein writes, the offers for VanVleet were lackluster and Toronto brass preferred to give the core of Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and VanVleet one more shot at it, adding Jakob Poeltl to the equation.

Stein suggests that the Raptors could have traded VanVleet to the Clippers last year in exchange for Luke Kennard and modest draft capital, but instead opted to run it back with their team. However, VanVleet leaving Toronto in the offseason for Houston had an impact on their willingness to trade Siakam and Anunoby this season, according to Stein.

Though there’s an outside perception the Raptors could have gotten more for Siakam had they traded him earlier, Toronto is pleased with the package it received from the Pacers, according to Stein. As Stein explains, the Hawks offered De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and a first-round pick over the summer, but the Raptors feel Indiana’s offer was better, even without Bennedict Mathurin, Jarace Walker, Andrew Nembhard or Jalen Smith, all of whom Toronto coveted. I recommend checking out the article in full if you are subscribed to Stein’s Substack page.

There are more notes from Marc Stein:

There’s a growing belief leaguewide that the Raptors will move recently acquired Bruce Brown in another trade. The Knicks have Evan Fournier‘s $18.9MM salary to help match Brown’s $22MM, Stein observes. An earlier report Thursday indicated Quentin Grimes ($2.4MM in 2023/24) was on the trade block, so perhaps the Knicks kick the tires on packaging Fournier and Grimes together for Brown. We wrote more on New York’s interest in Brown here. The Nuggets would undoubtedly be interested in Brown after he helped lift the franchise to their first NBA title in 2022/23, but they lack feasible ways of acquiring him, Stein adds.
Stein expresses skepticism that Brown is the type of scoring guard New York wants to bring in after moving away from Immanuel Quickley. The Knicks have “a level of interest” in Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Charlotte’s Terry Rozier, Detroit’s Alec Burks and Portland’s Malcolm Brogdon, he adds.
Rival teams hold the belief that Siakam is a “lock” to re-sign with the Pacers after his current contract expires this summer, Stein writes. The Pacers can only offer Siakam a two-year, $81.5MM extension during the season, but they acquired his Bird rights in the trade, which was a motivating factor in getting him now. Acquiring Siakam’s Bird rights allows the Pacers to go over the salary cap to keep him giving them increased flexibility this summer.
After Siakam was traded, attention on the trade market turned to the Hawks‘ Dejounte Murray, according to Stein, who says the going price for Murray starts at two first-round picks. We took a look earlier today at Murray’s market.

Pacers Notes: Siakam, Haliburton, Turner, Hard Cap

January 18th, 2024 at 2:37pm CST by Rory Maher

If Pascal Siakam was going to be traded by the Raptors, his preference was to land with the Pacers, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. After Wednesday’s trade saw that come to fruition, it became clear the feeling was mutual, with both sides showing enthusiasm about the chances of the two-time All-Star re-signing with Indiana on a long-term contract this summer.

A small-market team like the Pacers doesn’t typically attract star-level talent like the 29-year-old forward. However, as Amick details, Siakam never forgot that Pacers GM Chad Buchanan — then with the Hornets — told Siakam’s camp that he was being considered for Charlotte’s first-round pick in 2016. Charlotte ended up trading its pick in that draft, while the only other team that showed first round interest — Toronto — selected Siakam 27th overall.

Siakam also learned that Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle voted for him as an All-Star reserve last season; he ultimately made the team as an injury replacement. And, perhaps most importantly, Siakam wanted to play with point guard Tyrese Haliburton, one of the top young players in the NBA. Haliburton eagerly signed off on the deal, Amick adds.

Siakam has also long been a fan of Myles Turner, sources tell Amick. Siakam believes Turner’s rim protection on defense and ability to space the floor on offense will complement his game.

Here’s more on the Pacers:

In addition to being respected by the team, Siakam is also familiar with the state of Indiana because his older brother Christian played for IUPUI from 2007-12, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
Siakam arrived in Indiana on Thursday for his physical and expressed his excitement about the trade, the team announced (via Twitter).
In an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Todd Ramasar — Siakam’s agent — said he views Indiana as a “perfect fit” for his client, and he could see Siakam with the Pacers long term. “There is that through line where everything is about ‘team’ and ‘winning,'” Ramasar said of the Pacers. “In winning, it’s also about having humility and competitiveness. Those are all the right attributes that you want in an organization down to the individuals that leads to something special in the future.”
According to Agness’ sources (Twitter link), Haliburton is ahead of schedule on his return from a hamstring injury, which is why he was listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest vs. Sacramento (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). However, Carlisle said on Thursday that Haliburton isn’t quite ready to return yet, and he will miss his fifth straight game tonight, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
The Pacers are now hard-capped at the first tax apron following Wednesday’s trade for Siakam, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The reason for that is Indiana exceeded the 110% salary-matching threshold, which triggers a hard cap in the new CBA. Over half the NBA’s teams now face hard caps, though it won’t be an impediment for many of them, including Indiana, whose team salary is far below the first apron.

Raptors’ Ujiri: More Trades “Definitely” Possible

January 18th, 2024 at 12:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have made a pair of blockbuster trades in the past few weeks, dealing away longtime veteran forwards OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam for packages centered on young players and draft picks, respectively. They also acquired a valuable role player in swingman Bruce Brown, who is on a pseudo-expiring $22MM contract (2024/25 is a team option for $23MM).

Speaking to the media on Thursday afternoon, Raptors vice chairman and president Masai Ujiri said more trades are “definitely” a possibility ahead of the February 8 deadline, as Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca relays (via Twitter). In particular, Ujiri highlighted shooting and flexibility as areas of emphasis, Murphy adds.

In a Twitter thread, Murphy passes along several noteworthy comments from Ujiri’s press conference addressing the trades, his close relationship with Siakam, the team’s plans for the future, and much more.

According to Murphy, Ujiri was “clearly quite emotional” when discussing the moves, which he called “incredibly difficult.”

“These things happen but that one is close to me,” he said. “I hate to go on this little rant, but what I think of the world globally, and what these guys represent, and where I come from, where they come from, it’s meant a lot to me. … Trust me, we’ve analyzed this in every single way.”

“Two African guys that won a championship, I share that with him,” Ujiri said of Siakam (Twitter video link via The Shift). “ … Again, I say to you guys, that guy’s success is my success no matter where he is.”

Ujiri wanted to give the previous roster as much time as it could, but it was trending in the wrong direction. He also cited free agency — both Anunoby and Siakam can be unrestricted free agents this summer — and a desire to get younger around Scottie Barnes as key factors in the moves, per Murphy.

Here’s more from Ujiri’s lengthy press conference:

Ujiri had nothing but praise for how Siakam carried himself and performed over the past year while dealing with trade rumors, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “He handled it perfectly,” Ujiri said of Siakam. “I give him 100 out of 100. It has to be difficult, and I said that to him. … Nothing stopped him from coming to work everyday and trying to be the best he could be while he performed. We truly respect that.” However, Ujiri says he regrets how he handled things on his end during the offseason, Lewenberg adds (via Twitter). “I think the lines of communication in the summer were not that great. That part I’m not particularly proud of,” Ujiri said, adding that he apologized to Siakam.
When asked if he regretted not making more trades last season, Ujiri said he didn’t, citing a desire to give the 2022/23 team more chances to succeed. He also doesn’t second-guess himself about last year’s trade for Jakob Poeltl. “When you trade a first-round pick for a starting center in the NBA, in our business and for us, it’s good — for now and for the future,” Ujiri said, per Lewenberg (Twitter link). “I’m not going to sit here and cry over spilled milk. If it was a mistake, it was a mistake, but it was good value for us.”
Regarding Christian Koloko, whom the Raptors waived to create roster space for the latest deal, Ujiri said his medical status was in the hands of the NBA. Koloko has yet to play this season due to a respiratory issue. “We’ve exhausted all our options there,” Ujiri said (Twitter link via Murphy) “I can’t comment on particulars. It’s really unfortunate. … He was someone we really believed in. Incredible talent. We saw as the future of this team.“
The Raptors could have four picks in the 2024 draft, depending on what happens with their own first-rounder (it will be sent to San Antonio as part of the Poeltl deal if it lands outside the top six). They acquired the Pistons’ second-round pick in the Anunoby deal, plus two more 2024 first-rounders from Indiana that are projected to be in the latter portion of what’s considered a weak draft class. Ujiri “strongly doubts” that the Raptors will actually keep all of those picks, tweets Murphy.

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