
Pascal Siakam had a breakout season with the Toronto Raptors last year en route to an NBA title, and the big man wants to be compensated accordingly.
Siakam has had contract discussions with the Raptors this offseason and is seeking a max extension, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. Siakam is eligible to sign either a four-year, $130 million max deal or a five-year, $170 million contract, and 2016 draftmates Ben Simmons and Jamal Murray have received five-year extensions from their respective teams this offseason.
Siakam is set to become a restricted free agent next summer, so the Raptors don’t really have to sign him to a max deal now. They will have the ability to match any offer he receives in free agency next year if they chose to wait that long. They also may not want to extend Siakam now so they can enter next offseason with more than $80 million in salary cap space and have more flexibility.
Sources told Charania that Siakam wants to remain in Toronto. The former No. 27 overall pick obliterated his career highs last season with averages of 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, and there’s no reason to think he can’t improve upon those numbers now that he may need to play an even bigger role this upcoming season.
The Raptors have rebuffed trade offers for their other key veterans since Leonard left, so president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is clearly not interested in a total rebuild after his team’s championship season. If the Raptors want to continue to contend in the Eastern Conference for the next several years, keeping Siakam should be a priority.