Keep or Trade? Raptors’ OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam

Pascal Siakam

It sounds silly at first glance.

Siakam is one of the best basketball players in the world. Period. He’s added elements to his game every year, won a championship, made All-Star teams, an All-NBA team, and is in the middle of his most dominant season yet. Still, Ujiri is likely asking himself if he needs to be the one to go.

If the Raptors were to trade Siakam, there would be two significant reasons why. As good as he is, a team with Pascal Siakam leading the way will likely never be able to win a championship without an ace No. 2 player to take the pressure off. As long as Pascal is starting, staring, and dominating the ball at the forward spot, Scottie Barnes’ needs and development will always be secondary.

Any of the aforementioned trades would be a move toward a rebuild. The Raptors don’t want to trade away their young pieces to try and make a run now. It’s just not in the cards.

So why not just go all in? If the team is moving towards a rebuild, then why not just commit and be done with it? They could fully empower the young core of Barnes, Trent, and Anunoby and tank for a high pick in this loaded draft class.

Pascal Siakam is at the heart of the Toronto Raptors.

The kind of trade package someone of his caliber would demand would be absurd. Think the Mitchell package, but kicked up a notch. The Raptors would be rolling in picks for the next four years, at least, and it would likely garner some more young pieces to grow as the next generation of Raptors.

It would be “selling high” on a player that’s having his best season yet.

This is the least likely trade scenario of the three, but it’s still worth mentioning. Ujiri is known for being aggressive in the trade market. He isn’t afraid of the big swing and knows the middle is the worst place to be in the NBA; he is not quite contending but not entirely rebuilding.