$37.9m Pascal Siakam May Opt To Stay With The Raptors For This Reasons…
The Toronto Raptors have a decision to make on Siakam—the almost-30-year-old NBA champion, two-time All-Star and current leading scorer on a mediocre 10-14 squad.
Siakam has been extension-eligible since July 6 and will be through the end of June. Do the Raptors reinvest in the only regular rotation player left from the 2018 title-winning roster? (Chris Boucher was a bit player.)
Or is it time to let him go? When asking other front offices, many are surprised he’s still with Toronto, given the Raptors have shopped Siakam in trade for over a year.
Apparently, those talks were just exploratory—but then so were conversations about Fred VanVleet, who ultimately left Toronto (with nothing in return) for the Houston Rockets as a free agent.
Do the Raptors tempt the same fate with Siakam? Is the market soft on the 6’8″ power forward? Or is the bigger problem his $37.9 million expiring salary, which is not an easy number to move with the restrictive rules of the league’s collective bargaining agreement?
Some in NBA circles believe the Raptors will extend Siakam themselves at a more reasonable figure—one large enough to please the player but team-friendly enough to trade over the offseason or ahead of next year’s trade deadline.
That’s a lot of steps, and staying in limbo doesn’t seem like a great plan. If the Raptors can cash out Siakam for the right return, they should.