The Toronto Raptors have become notorious in recent years for losing prominent players in free agency. While Kawhi Leonard was a bit of a unique situation when he joined the Los Angeles Clippers, the Raptors opted to not trade Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet before they could hit free agency and saw both players leave — Lowry went to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade, while VanVleet was able to walk out the door for nothing and join the Houston Rockets.
Next up for Toronto, potentially, is All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, “there have been no substantive conversations surrounding an extension” for Siakam, who could put pen to paper on a 4-year deal worth $192 million. As for a trade, the team that has been most closely linked to a Siakam deal is the Atlanta Hawks, to the point that Charania reports they held discussions at Summer League and made an offer that was rebuffed.
Atlanta has offered a package centered around De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and draft compensation to Toronto for Siakam, league sources say. But the Raptors are believed to have upped the price on any possible deal at each turn.
The tricky part for Atlanta is that they’re obviously not going to move Trae Young, and thanks to the extension that Dejounte Murray signed, he’s ineligible to get moved until early January. While they have some interesting young players who could get tossed into a deal — Hunter and Griffin are among them — the team moved a hefty amount of draft capital to acquire Murray last offseason.
