[Source](https://www.tsn.ca/nba/sources-raptors-expected-to-move-or-extend-siakam-ahead-of-trade-deadline-1.2058826)
Some more excerpts.
>But after their disappointing 2022-23 season ended with an embarrassing play-in loss to Chicago, Ujiri and Toronto’s front office cut off almost all communication with Siakam last summer, leading the seven-year vet to wonder whether he was being punished, according to a source close to the player. The lack of contact was especially strange, with Siakam entering the final year of his contract. Typically, players of his calibre don’t get that close to free agency without signing an extension. Ujiri’s very public message to Siakam on Media Day: you’ll have to earn it – the natural implication being that he hadn’t already.
>“We do believe in Pascal,” Ujiri said back in October. “We believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year and we want to see them play the right way. I said that we were selfish and I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we did not play the right way. So let us see it when we play the right way.”
by YouStillTakeDamage
32 Comments
Raptors aren’t tryna trade Siakam because they don’t believe he won’t re sign
He would re sign in a second offered 4 year max, they offered it and don’t plan on offering lol
He’s a goner at deadline
but Raps and their fans think they’ll get Keegan lol
Is this surprising?
You lose like that, you think any team is rushing to the table to give anybody an extension?
Now if they genuinely just blocked his calls, that’s messed up.
But, considering this is coming from Siakam’s camp, I’m assuming they are upset that there weren’t stronger extension conversations.
If Pascal wants to hit free agency, the Raptors are fucked:
A team (for example, the Kings) wants to trade for him before the trade deadline?
One call from his agent saying he won’t extend and the deal is dead, unless there’s a team willing to trade real assets for a 1/2 season rental.
Feels like Ujiri really believed in last year’s team. I think that’s the only explanation for the direction they chose/didn’t choose last year. Just kind of wild how wrong he was to think that.
I call it getting “Van-Fleeted” what’s about to happen to Toronto with Siakam.
The Toronto Raptors really can’t keep anybody huh?
Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Kawhi Leonard, and soon to be Pascal.
If this is true, How could you treat Pascal like this. That’s some loser behaviour.
Let’s just say 1-10 Skill wise Siakam is a 10 on this scale and Grant is a 7. Now let’s say the Kings have 5 dollars to spend. Siakam cost $5 whereas Grant cost $2. Id rather spend $2 and save money for something later rather than empty my full piggy bank. Don’t think Kings are a $5 player away from a contender. Beam Logic.
What losing to an 11 year old girl does to a franchise.
Seems to me Ujiri is a really shit executive who lucked into Kawhi and hasn’t made a good decision since.
Every story is shit like this out in the open, we knew he wanted to fire Nurse by this time last year, he wants all of his good players to leave for reasons.
Our fo pisses me off when it comes to resigning people
Masai trick yall man! Living off Kawhi and that title run.
This is messed up
Didn’t Siakam drop 52 in the Garden last year? Also, didn’t he score 32 in the play in loss?
He was the reason Raptors won 41 games last year
I praised Masai in 2019 for being courageous, he immediately fired the COTY because he underperformed in the playoffs and he traded his underperforming star for Kahwi and build a team to win the chip.
But ever since then he’s been horrible. No clear direction for future, scared to make any big decision, this indecisiveness led them to lose every cornerstone of their team for nothing.
And now he’s alienating Siakam like he did to Nick Nurse.
Last years team was no one’s fault but Masai. I said this when we started out shit run this year as well, none of it was on the players and completely on Masai and his roster construction. Everyone on earth but Masai knew the Poeltl trade was stupid.
lol all this noise over a Lewenberg source. He’s got no sources close to Siakam
Masai is washed
It’s gonna sound wild but I’m fine with Pascal leaving. He doesn’t fit our timeline, he’s not a 1A star imo, and he personally would most likely want to move on. And honestly, sometimes he is selfish
This bum still coasting off the Kawhi success. One Lucky Shot and 15 injuries to the Warriors kept this man’s job in tact to this day
The “source close to the player” in question?
Sascal Piakim
Uhhhhh… Toronto told Siakam he was on the block during Summer League. So Siakam went away and trained individually until training camp in anticipation of a possible move. Lewenberg thinking people forgot that.
Of course it would be Demar and his Daughter who breaks our FO after the play in. 😂
Breaking news: Masai Ujiri bans Daddy-Daughter day at Scotiabank Arena indefinitely
Hear me about: Maybe Ujiri isn’t a basketball genius?
The Raptors are FUCKING TERRIBLE on the court and somehow fumble every single personnel decision.
Kawhi ain’t walking back in that door. Nor could I ever imagine a bonafide #1 ever becoming available again and allowing himself to be traded to Toronto.
I believe this and I’ve honestly lost faith in Masai in the last couple years. I’m not sure if Nurse should’ve been extended either but he’s still a great coach so I wonder if it was more about friction between him and the head office more than losing the locker room or whatever happened.
There’s a difference between courting and engaging a player in extension talks and ghosting a player and not communicating under any circumstances. If you think Toronto’s front office refused to talk to Pascals camp at all then you’re nuts.
Jesus lol one first round loss has Kings fan becoming unbearable.
Most of us are fine with not getting Keegan because we realize that getting Keegan means we absolutely fleeced the Kings. However y’all need to realize without Keegan you’re most likely not getting an all star/all NBA caliber back whether that’s Siakam or Lauri.
Barnes/Huerter/Davion might get you Jerami Grant though.
Your next contract is about what you WILL do. Not what you’ve done.
What elements of Pascal Siakam’s game have improved since the end of the 2019-2020 season? Everything about his numbers give me the impression that this is a guy that put in the work year round until he earned his 4-year max extension (signed October 2019), and hasn’t practiced his shot since.
His splits show 3 really good shooting months in 18-19. 4 really good shooting months in 19-20.
And then after the pandemic… good 3pt shooting in the bubble, but his FT shooting dropped significantly. And then he’s had 1 good shooting month in 2020-2021, 2 good shooting months in 2021-2022, 1 good shooting month in 2022-2023….. and this year? So far one good shooting month, though overall on the season his shooting is down even with 15 really good games in a row since the start of December. And his FT shooting has done nothing but dip, and been nowhere near what it was for 3 seasons going into the pandemic.
I completely understand the front office’s hesitation in offering him an extension after how disappointing last year was, but if they truly cut off contact with him over it then that is inexcusable. It isn’t like Pascal has been a locker room cancer or constantly causing problems and badmputhing the organization, there is absolutely no reason to alienate a player like that.
Ujiri has really mismanaged the team’s assets post Finals win. It was one thing to try running it back after the win even with Kawhi’s departure but since then the commitment to mediocre has really dug the Raptors in.
Combine the lack of a free agency presence and missed draft picks outside of Barnes and it’s hard to see an easy path back to contention for Toronto. Especially because you need to hit on these picks when you’re not free agents top choice. Of their last 8 draft picks only 3 are still on the team and only 1 (Barnes) is actually in their rotation.
Right now their combined haul for their championship rotation of Kyle, Gasol, Serge, Powell, OG and VanVleet is GTJ, Quickley, Barrett.
Sounds like some bullshit made up lol
“Sources”