Everything Pascal Siakam

[TrueTorontoFan]

The smoke is that other teams want him because he's very good. And whereas reports a couple years ago were that Siakam and OG were absolutely off limits in any trade talk, I'm not sure that's the case anymore. I think management listens to these calls. But the desire to make a move is not coming from the Raptors or Siakam. So nothing's happening unless a team calls up with the next Kawhi trade. So nothing's happening.

In the meantime, there's a massive feedback loop in the NBA trade rumour machine on social media now. It's 99% BS or links to pure speculation pieces (in cases where an actual journalist is involved instead of @NBACentral6969 doing random jersey swaps) eg "you know who would look great on the Warriors? Siakam!"

That's all I'm seeing this summer. It doesn't make any sense to move on from Fred and Siakam right now. These guys will both be pushing for All-Star spots if the Raptors are actually playing from home this season.

thats the other thing is if you move on from siakam moving on from fred makes sense too.

[S.R.]

thats the other thing is if you move on from siakam moving on from fred makes sense too.

Yeah, on the one hand there's a core of players a couple years behind them. On the other hand it's not like you line up a team of 7 guys born in the same year, ever. I see more of management keeping their options open by keeping contracts as flexible as possible. All depends on what happens, how guys develop, how the team does, what offers come up, etc. They could hang onto these guys if things are going great. They could look to make moves if progress stalls or a great opportunity comes up. Basically what they've been doing to date. A bit different of a situation than if you have an Embiid or a Giannis on the roster, for sure.

[LJ2]

Yeah, on the one hand there's a core of players a couple years behind them. On the other hand it's not like you line up a team of 7 guys born in the same year, ever. I see more of management keeping their options open by keeping contracts as flexible as possible. All depends on what happens, how guys develop, how the team does, what offers come up, etc. They could hang onto these guys if things are going great. They could look to make moves if progress stalls or a great opportunity comes up. Basically what they've been doing to date. A bit different of a situation than if you have an Embiid or a Giannis on the roster, for sure.

If you trade Pascal it has to be for the final piece of the puzzle (DeMar for Kawhi), right?

[golden]

thats the other thing is if you move on from siakam moving on from fred makes sense too.

Not really. Fred is our Udonis Haslem.

[SkywalkerAC]

At least this thread is getting some offseason-doldrums action!

[DanH]

Argh, working and posting, was bound to miss something. My mistake.

Now I'm just putting it out there for conversation, but I think we both agree at some point down the line Barnes is very likely to be a starter. A lot could change between now and then, but if the core of this roster remains the same then the options for Barnes to replace in the starting line up are one of Trent Jr., OG, Siakam or Khem/Precious. I'm leaving FVV out because I just can't imagine Barnes performing full time PG duties.

Unlikely that Barnes, OG or Pascal can man the Centre position full time, so that leaves us with Barnes potentially displacing Trent jr., OG or Pascal. Siakam is still our best player by a fair margin and we badly need his scoring so can't see him going any where.

That leaves Trent jr. and OG and it comes down to who would compliment Barnes more of those two. Trent Jr. seems like more of a natural scorer and volume scorer to me, but like I said earlier, Golden provided some info which indicates that OG might be closer to that than I thought. Time will tell I suppose.

If you are choosing between OG and Trent for your team, you choose OG every single time.

[inthepaint]

If you trade Pascal it has to be for the final piece of the puzzle (DeMar for Kawhi), right?

The difference would be that on the Demar for Kawhi trade we were already at the top of the conference with ECF appearance and high reg season wins the years prior. Team was primed for a finals run. We're rebuilding now, so if we were to get a superstar here with Siakam as the trade centerpiece, we'd still be treading water.

Team needs some time to develop and add value from within now. If anything the only Siakam move that would make sense is a for a solid young prospect, ballast, and 3 or 4 first round picks imo. That's what would golden state would have to cough up at minimum, but as usual, they probably want to have the cake and eat it too (like Philly at the trade deadline with Lowry). Sometimes you need to sacrifice some of the future to make a true title push now, but a lot of times teams want to have both it ways. So Siakam ain't going nowhere, they can salivate all they want.

[SkywalkerAC]

If you are choosing between OG and Trent for your team, you choose OG every single time.

Or better yet - you don't have to choose.

[LJ2]

The difference would be that on the Demar for Kawhi trade we were already at the top of the conference with ECF appearance and high reg season wins the years prior. Team was primed for a finals run. We're rebuilding now, so if we were to get a superstar here with Siakam as the trade centerpiece, we'd still be treading water.

Team needs some time to develop and add value from within now. If anything the only Siakam move that would make sense is a for a solid young prospect, ballast, and 3 or 4 first round picks imo. That's what would golden state would have to cough up at minimum, but as usual, they probably want to have the cake and eat it too (like Philly at the trade deadline with Lowry). Sometimes you need to sacrifice some of the future to make a true title push now, but a lot of times teams want to have both it ways. So Siakam ain't going nowhere, they can salivate all they want.

Agreed, they have to give this core a chance to see where it goes. Doubtful any Pascal move would be soon.

[SkywalkerAC]

Yup, we have to see just how competitive we can be as currently constructed. If Pascal can have a roster this young into the playoffs, bodes well.

[LJ2]

If you are choosing between OG and Trent for your team, you choose OG every single time.

I like what OG brings, but it's the potential of Trent Jr. as a scorer that has me leaning towards keeping him (if it meant replacing one with Barnes). I think Barnes would bring pretty close to what OG gives us on defense (in time), but we are hurting for guys that can score.

Trent Jr. may end up being T. Ross 2.0, an inconsistent player on both ends of the floor, and OG is a known commodity so there is that to consider.

[chris]

I like what OG brings, but it's the potential of Trent Jr. as a scorer that has me leaning towards keeping him (if it meant replacing one with Barnes). I think Barnes would bring pretty close to what OG gives us on defense (in time), but we are hurting for guys that can score.

Trent Jr. may end up being T. Ross 2.0, an inconsistent player on both ends of the floor, and OG is a known commodity so there is that to consider.

ppl keep saying this but we had our most successful regular season as a franchise just the year before last without a "go-to" scorer, or at least without one that isn't already on this roster. the balanced attack approach has already proven pretty viable.

sure the playoffs may be a different beast but i don't see GTJr as the dude that's gonna carry a half-court offense on his own. those guys are still few and far between and gary ain't it.

[saints91]

I think we haven't seen enough of what Gary can do... I think he will be our bucket getter... He can hit the three, he has a great slash and pull up game in the midrange, and he can get anywhere he wants on the floor. I think driving and taking contact at the rim is his weak point, but nothing that can't be focused on.

His defence was worse playing for us than he was for Portland... I think it's just getting used to the guys around you, and learning the teams schemes... we have one of the most complicated defences to learn.

[LJ2]

ppl keep saying this but we had our most successful regular season as a franchise just the year before last without a "go-to" scorer, or at least without one that isn't already on this roster. the balanced attack approach has already proven pretty viable.

sure the playoffs may be a different beast but i don't see GTJr as the dude that's gonna carry a half-court offense on his own. those guys are still few and far between and gary ain't it.

We lost Lowry and his 17ppg from the season you are referring to.

We are very much down to 3 reliable scorers in Pascal, FVV and what I would expect is Trent Jr.

[planetmars]

We lost Lowry and his 17ppg from the season you are referring to.

We are very much down to 3 reliable scorers in Pascal, FVV and what I would expect is Trent Jr.

Dragic can give you 13-14ppg and I assume Malachi gets a bit better than last season to make up the difference. Lowry gave us far more than ppg however. He was the floor leader whenever he was out there.

It's Birch who I think will regress without Kyle to feed him easy buckets all game long.