As the Pascal Siakam trade saga finally came to an end and the former Toronto star is now headed to Indiana, multiple narratives have surfaced the internet stating the player was nearly going to be transferred to Golden State.
According to NBA insider Sam Amick, the Bay Area squad were very close to signing the Cameroon native, but it seems he wasn’t too excited about it. “The Warriors were interested. I don’t think he was excited about anything past this season with them,” the journalist revealed.
It seems the Warriors’ former allure to star-calibre players appears to be fading away. Last week, even seasoned-reporter Adrian Wojnarowski had announced Siakam’s trade to San Francisco was almost a done deal.
BREAKING: The Toronto Raptors are finalizing a trade to send Pascal Siakam to the Golden State Warriors, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/OznTxzZpk1
— Adrian Wojnarowski ᶠᵃⁿ (@wojdespn) January 12, 2024
Golden State are currently 18-22 almost halfway through regular season, standing in the Western Conference’s 12th place. As Pascal will become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer, he would’ve not likely re-signed their potential deal together.
The star’s agent Todd Ramasar, recently told the press that the player is more than happy to land in Indianapolis. “I could see Pascal in Indiana long term,” he said. “They want to see Pascal with the organization long term. He’s excited. There are a lot of memories up in Toronto, and a lot of good memories. Although things have changed to where he’s been moved, he’s ecstatic about the opportunity ahead of him in Indiana. First of all, it’s a first-class organization.
“When you look at [President] Kevin Pritchard and [general manager] Chad Buchanan, these are basketball guys with an organization that always has had basketball executives from Larry Bird to Donnie Walsh that have been there. Their front office is first class.”
His agent later insisted this could be a chance to contend for the title. “I’m excited that Pascal is getting a first-class opportunity with the Pacers, being paired with Tyrese [Haliburton] and Myles [Turner] and being coached by a great coach in Rick Carlisle. His future their looks bright there,” Ramasar said about the trade.
Raptors president says he apologized to Siakam for a lack of communication during negotiations
Toronto president Masai Ujiri revealed that he shared an “incredible” and “honest” conversation with Siakam after admitting he could’ve been more communicative during the negotiation process with the Pacers.
“I think the lines of communication in the summer were not that great,” Ujiri confessed. “Just because sometimes I don’t have answers. And sometimes the answer that I’m giving you is the same answer that I’m going to give you the next time I speak to you.”
The Raptors executive knows Siakam deserved better. “But based on my relationship, Pascal deserved that I even gave him the over-communication, which I didn’t, and I apologized to him for it. I apologized to him before the season started, and I apologized to him again recently. So that part, I’m not particularly proud of, but there are so many things in our business that bring about this type of communication or non-communication,” Masai said.
The two-time All-Star is currently averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks this campaign while shooting 52.2% from field goal attempts, 31.7% from three-pointers and 75.8% from the free-throw line.
