Is the pitiful return proof Masai waited too long?
The Toronto Raptors have waved goodbye to the last major contributor to their 2019 championship. Power forward Pascal Siakam is off to Indianapolis to join the Indiana Pacers. In return, the Raptors receive Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and Kira Lewis, plus three first-round draft picks (two this year, the other in 2026).
On the surface, this might be the most one-sided trade ever concocted in the NBA. If we use as our guide the old saw “Whoever gets the best player wins the deal”, the Pacers made out like bandits. Soon to be wearing the Pacers blue-&-yellow is Siakam, a two-time All-NBA power forward still in the prime of his career.
Dear Reader, you could easily be forgiven for not knowing the names, let alone having a sense of the skill levels, possessed by the three warm bodies who have been routed to the Great White North. So what in the world was the normally hard-headed Masai Ujiri thinking when he agreed to such a transaction? There were so many star-for-star trades that had been bruited about in the ether, and the marquee name joining the Raptors for real-sies is Bruce Brown? What in the name of the Sainted Bill Russell is going on?
We must trot out another cliche: “In the NBA, players don’t get traded – contracts are.” Or a complement: “The salary cap is the invisible hand which guides all transactions.”…I just made that one up, so it doesn’t count against my cliche score. The Raptors were heading into serious difficulty with the salary cap next season. Pascal has made abundantly clear his desire for a maximum contract, for which I don’t blame him in the least. That issue ($ 200 million over 4 years? Yikes!) now belongs to the Pacers.
The Raptors’ 2024-25 salary situation just became much more manageable. There will be cap space to offer the recently-acquired Immanuel Quickley a big raise, assuming he wants to stick around; likewise Gary Trent. I’m going to assume the Greybeard Trio of Garrett Temple, Otto Porter and Thaddeus Young won’t be back except as coaches, so there’s almost $ 17 million saved. All of a sudden the Raptors’ core group is a lot younger (Pascal is almost 30) and cheaper.
Over to you, young gun
And – flourish of trumpets – they are Scottie Barnes’ team.
His play has made a huge leap this season, fulfilling the promise of his Rookie of the Year trophy in 2021-22. With this trade, Masai has in effect said to Scottie: “I’m surrounding you with kids you can grow with. Let’s win a championship together.”
However, by trading OG Anunoby and now Siakam, the Raptors have chosen to punt on this season. I doubt their record will troll the depths of such slough of despair squads as the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, and San Antonio Spurs. Even so, my pre-season prediction of a 41-41 mark, and a spot in the play-in tournament, won’t be achieved.
But wait – there’s more
C’mon fans. Let’s channel our inner Eric Idle, and always look on the bright side. The Raptors will be masters of the June draft, with three (and perhaps four, depending on how sour the remainder of this season proves to be) selections in the top 35. There’s a topic worthy of a separate post, so please return.
P.S. I know Chris Boucher, who’s still around, won a ring with the 2019 team, but his contributions didn’t exactly move the needle.
P.P.S. The good people of Doula, Cameroon must be in shock today. Their two representatives on our team, Pascal and Christian Koloko, are off the Raptors roster. Koloko, who has had miserable luck with his health, has been waived in order to create a roster spot for the newbies. We wish him well. Perhaps he’ll be back.
- Tags: Indiana Pacers, Masai Ujiri, Toronto Raptors
2 Comments
The end of an era.
I don’t know if it was bad luck (see Otto Porter and Koloko injuries) or Vision 6’9″ (Too many wings; not enough centres and guards. Great defence; weak offence (i.e. way below average 3 point shooting.)), but somehow the Raptors just could not put it together around a group featuring Pascal and OG (both of whom are way above average for their positions).
We are in the re-build phase. Let’s hope its at least fun.
Hey Ian: Does every swingman who joins the Raptors lose the ability to shoot from deep? It’s positively spooky. And I also agree with you about “not enough centres”. We are in the midst of a resurgence of great seven-footers (cf: Jokic, Embiid, Wembanyama, Holmgren), yet our biggest guy has never attempted a 3-ball in his career. Koloko is seriously ill – who could have predicted that? The roster is badly unbalanced. Pray for a strong draft class.