NBA Trade Rumors: Toronto Raptors inching closer to moving Pascal Siakam?

NBA Trade Rumors: There’s a growing sense that the Toronto Raptors could be on the cusp of trading Pascal Siakam. 

Entering the NBA offseason, there was a widespread belief that the Toronto Raptors were set on making some big changes. After moving on from head coach Nick Nurse, the writing seemed to be on the wall. However, through the first couple of weeks of the offseason, nothing happened. Everything coming out of Toronto seemed as if the team was going to run it back.

Perhaps all that changed when Fred VanVleet elected to leave the franchise and sign with the Houston Rockets during the opening hours of free agency. You can’t help but wonder how much that one decision may have changed the entire future of the Raptors’ organization.

Nevertheless, it seems as if something has changed for the team. Just when it seemed as if the Raptors were going to enter next season with roughly the same team, they lose out on VanVleet. Now, according to recent reporting, it looks like they could be on the verge of another big move – trading Pascal Siakam.

The Toronto Raptors may have been forced into a youth movement

For better or worse, it truly seems as if the Raptors have been forced into a youth movement. And perhaps this is a decision that the front office had to make. Some other recent reporting seems to suggest that there was somewhat of a schism in the locker room between some of the young players and the veteran stars.

Who knows how accurate that report is, but if the Raptors do end up moving on from both VanVleet and Siakam this offseason, perhaps it does hold water. Whether the Raptors were forced into a youth movement or if they chose it doesn’t matter; this is likely something that needed to happen either way.

With or without Siakam, who is entering the final year of his contract with the team, the Raptors will be just fine. They have a solid foundation of players with Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick, OG Anunoby (if he sticks around), and Gary Trent JR. The Raptors are also one of the better developmental teams in the league.

Add in the fact that they also have one of the best front-office executives in the league in Masai Ujiri, you can’t really second-guess anything this leadership group does. That said, trading Siakam would be a huge move. And from the look of it, it seems like something that many expect to happen at this point.