3 Things Raptors need to do to get back in the playoffs in 2023
By Mike Luciano
1. Keep Pascal Siakam
The Raptors have been inundated with Siakam trade proposals, as they are either eager to start a rebuild or nervous about another All-NBA season enabling Siakam to earn a supermax contract in the vein of Jaylen Brown. However, trading him might be the wrong move right now for Toronto.
Given the team’s troubles with adding free agents and the fact that Siakam will not recoup a ton of assets in a trade due to his contract status, the Raptors may not be able to reload talent very easily. Barnes is tremendous, but can he be the guy without Siakam this early in his career?
The Toronto Raptors must retain Pascal Siakam.
The Raptors just saw Siakam put up the two best statistical seasons of his career despite getting such a heavy workload of minutes and losing shots to VanVleet in the backcourt. A coach like Rajakovic, who has an offensive background, would clearly love to have Siakam in the fold.
Ujiri wouldn’t trade Siakam for pennies on the dollar, and he has shown that he can be extremely loyal to his own players. Moving Siakam would fly in the face of that directive, so keeping him and letting him cook with a new coach is the best option.
Next. 5 players the Raptors kept for too long. dark