Hawks Fail to Acquire Pascal Siakam in a Trade with Raptors - Newstbt.com

The Toronto Raptors prevented the Atlanta Hawks from procuring All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam through a potential trade.

Toronto Raptors’ Forward Pascal Siakam (43) will be strongly defended by Dejounte Murray (5) of the Atlanta Hawks at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Image: Getty). The Hawks need to increase their trade offer if they wish to acquire Siakam before the preseason starts. This has opened an opportunity for the Indiana Pacers to potentially make a better offer. Siakam has enjoyed a successful seventh season with the Raptors as he has averaged 24.2 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. His field-goal percentage was 48%, and he shot 32.4% from 3-point range. An abducer strain saw Siakam miss some games at the start of the season, but he recovered to play 71 games. Siakam’s talent has piqued the interest of multiple teams, however, most of them backed off after Siakam stated that he is not open to signing an extension with the team he is traded to. Siakam is set to explore free agency when his contract with the Raptors expires at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Despite vocalizing his intentions, Siakam remained a favorite to be traded to either the Hawks or Pacers – a “Home-Grown North of the Border” player.

Home-Grown North of the Border

Though not renowned as a college basketball powerhouse, the people of Las Cruces are proud to have Pascal Siakam, the player who was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the late first-round of the 2016 NBA Draft, representing New Mexico State. Siakam’s first two seasons in the league were rather uneventful, but in year three, he was promoted to the starting five by then-rookie head coach Nick Nurse. Since then, he has made two appearances in the NBA All-Star Game, was named the 2019 Most Improved Player and even contributed to the Raptors’ 2018-19 championship. As Siakam enters the final year of his contract, he is eligible for a maximum extension worth $192 million over four years. However, the Raptors have yet to have any “substantive conversations” on the extension, and so, all indications point to Siakam being the subject of a trade.

The Raptors attempted to keep guard Fred Van Vleet on the roster by not trading him before his contract expired, but could not keep him as he signed a 3-year, $130 million deal with the Houston Rockets in free agency. This missed opportunity to add players or get draft capital in exchange for Van Vleet has led the team to consider trading Pascal Siakam if the right offer came along, like the Hawks’ deal with De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin, and picks.

Hawks Offer De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin, Plus Picks

The Hawks were offering the Raptors starting small forward De’Andre Hunter and backup forward AJ Griffin plus multiple draft picks in an attempt to win forward Siakam. This offer was turned down by the Raptors. Hunter came to the Hawks in 2019 as the fourth overall pick from Virginia. During his first season with the Hawks, he featured in 67 matchups as a starter, recording 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a 35% 3-pont success rate. Griffin was taken #16 in the 2022 Draft. He began 12 games in his rookie season, making statistical rates of 8.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists, along with a 39% 3-point rate. Faced with the Raptors’ refusal of the offer, the Hawks may need a third-party like the Dallas Mavericks to make this Siakam transaction a possibility. It is uncertain as to what the Hawks and Raptors’ futures will look like.

Futures Market for the Hawks and Raptors

The Atlanta Hawks have +7500 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship, and +2500 to win the Eastern Conference while under the helm of Quin Snyder in his first full season. As the second favorite behind the Miami Heat within the Southeast Division (+215 odds as opposed to the Heat’s -185), the Hawks are projected to achieve a win total of 42.5 over/under next season (having finished 41-41 last season and been beaten by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament). The Toronto Raptors look to be quite a long shot in comparison, with +10000 odds of winning the NBA Championship and Darko Rajakovic now head coach, +5500 to secure the Eastern Conference title, and +3500 odds at securing the Atlantic Division.

It is predicted that the Toronto Raptors will have a tough time in the upcoming season and will win no more than 36.5 games.