Pascal Siakam is getting paid. According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the league’s reigning Most Improved Player and the Toronto Raptors have agreed to a four-year max contract extension.
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has agreed to a four-year, max contract extension, agents @TRamasar and @choufani_lsme tells Zach Lowe and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 19, 2019
According to Jeff Siegel, a four-year max extension for Siakam would come out to somewhere in the vicinity of $129.9 million. This was confirmed by Wojnarowski.
Siakam's max deal: four-years, $130M. https://t.co/GaHF8LlvGu
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 19, 2019
Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that this is a straight deal, one that does not have any options to opt out on either side.
Sources: Raptors star Pascal Siakam's four-year, $130M maximum deal with Toronto does not include any player or team options.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2019
It’s not a surprise that the two sides agreed to this extension — Siakam has rapidly shown that he’s among the league’s most uniquely talented players, while the Raptors had been open about wanting to keep him around as one of the pillars of the franchise. This was the case even before Kawhi Leonard left Toronto in free agency to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
Siakam has turned into a matchup nightmare on both ends of the floor. He is among the league’s most versatile defenders, and when he’s really cooking on offense, he’s too big for wing players to check and too nimble for big men to stay in front of. Additionally, Siakam is a testament to the Raptors’ ability to identify and develop talent. He’s gotten progressively better since being selected with the No. 27 pick in the 2019, and last year, Siakam averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, all career highs.
The Raptors had until Monday to come to an agreement with Siakam on a deal that would prevent him from hitting restricted free agency this summer. It was viewed as a foregone conclusion that would happen, and now, we know that Siakam’s not going anywhere any time soon.
