JULY 6: Siakam has officially re-signed with the Pacers, according to the NBA’s transaction log. Assuming Siakam got the full max, as expected, the deal is worth approximately $188.95MM over four years.
JUNE 19: Siakam intends to sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract with the Pacers after the July moratorium ends, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). As outlined below, a four-year max deal would be worth $189.5MM based on the most recent cap projections.
JUNE 18: The Pacers and star forward Pascal Siakam are nearing an agreement on a long-term contract, reports Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
The No. 3 free agent on our top-50 list, Siakam was traded from Toronto to Indiana in January after spending the first seven-and-a-half seasons of his NBA career in Toronto, where he earned two All-Star berths, two All-NBA nods, a Most Improved Player award, and a championship.
In his first 41 regular season games as a Pacer, the 30-year-old averaged 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 31.8 minutes per game with a shooting line of .549/.386/.699. Siakam was Indiana’s leading scorer in both the regular season and the playoffs — he averaged 21.6 PPG on 54.1% shooting in the postseason and helped lead his new club to series victories over Milwaukee and New York, resulting in the franchise’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals in 10 years.
The expectation is that Siakam, who is coming off a four-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, will once again get the max or something very close to it on his new deal with the Pacers, though no terms have been reported yet. A max contract for Siakam projects to be worth approximately $189.5MM over four years or $245.3MM over five.
The NBA and NBPA agreed to a rule change that goes into effect this offseason, allowing teams to begin negotiating with their own free agents on the day after the end of the NBA Finals instead of on June 30.
Technically, the Pacers were allowed to talk to Siakam even before Tuesday, since he has been extension-eligible since arriving in Indiana. However, a player’s years and dollars in an extension are capped for six months after a trade, so Siakam will likely end up becoming a free agent and then signing a new contract instead of extending his current deal. That means that even if he and Indiana reach an agreement shortly, it’s unlikely to become official until July 6, after the moratorium ends.
With a new deal for Siakam on the books and Tyrese Haliburton‘s own five-year, maximum-salary extension taking effect in 2024/25, the Pacers won’t have any cap room available this offseason, barring cost-cutting moves. They’ll have some breathing room below the luxury tax line for now, but will have a few more contract decisions to make after they work out a deal with Siakam — Obi Toppin will be eligible for restricted free agency, Jalen Smith holds a $5.4MM player option that he may decline, and T.J. McConnell will be extension-eligible beginning in July.
Look for a surprise sign and trade announcement on July 1st.
yeah, right. Anybody could have traded for him at the deadline, and they didn’t. It’s not like the Pacers gave up a ton for him.
Good team, but not Finals worthy. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals due to injuries their opponents faced. Not sure Siakam is the piece that gets them over the hump considering the cap will now be exhausted.
now they choose their 2 all stars so drafting and keeping their picks. The 3 year window is now open. now its just what they can get to be on the bench with very little money to spend.
My best guess is
5 years $225 million, Average per year $45 million
SGA average per year $37 million
SGA contract was before he even became and All Star and All NBA player.
Siakam had All Star appearances and made an All NBA.
Got it
If Siakam $190m, former teammate OG would be $160m with setting 60 games play
Market is overpaid
Hard to turn down $49M a yr. Tbh I’m sure I’d do the same exact thing if I was Siakam. Indy goes into next season as 1 of the very best teams in the East, brimming with confidence. It’ll be extremely interesting to see how this affects Jarace Walker’s development. He’s basically a better, more well rounded version of GG Jackson. DC/any team might wanna try to buy “low” on Jarace at the draft somehow… link to m.youtube.com
Going to take a lot to get her ace, he’s not a buy low candidate. Sf of the future for them
Who gets paid more Siakim or OG?
Siakim by a lot.
Match made in heaven. Perfect for a guy like this who puts up real good numbers. Not a lot of pressure, the team just needs to make the playoffs and do pretty well to max out reasonable expectations. But I don’t think they’ll ever contend for a championship.
Good for the Pacers because really it’s tough for them to attract an All-Star free agent. May happen but Indiana really has to trade for guys rather than sign free agents outright. And the guys they trade for will hopefully stay and sign extensions as Pascal Siakam does here.
Good situation for both parties. They draft couple more very good players and maybe a consistent 3 seed is in the works?
Oops, I forgot Rick Carlisle is the coach. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd are not coming over so make that a consistent five or six seed.
You say you don’t think they’ll ever contend for a championship literally 2 weeks after they were contending for the actual Eastern Conf title. Smh why do y’all say stuff like this?
Relax ……
They just got to playoffs …..
Didn’t you watch the Knicks series? I think half their team was hurt lol. And even then they barely squeaked by in 7 games. I think the Pacers were maybe missing one rotation guy, Matherun?
And the series before the Knicks, that team was hurt too. The Milwaukee Bucks best dudes were banged up.
But that’s fine if you believe the Indiana Pacers are contenders for the championship. That’s your opinion and I respect it.
Yeah I didn’t think they traded for him. Without knowing he would resign with them. I think he makes them a playoff team. They are still growing as a team. Lot of potential here. Pacers will be around for yrs now.
I think you’re right Al. Probably wink, wink, you better sign an extension with us if we’re giving up assets for half a season.
But my concern is, they will not improve quickly. It’ll be a very slow process because of lack of impact free agency signings and one young guy 1st round pick per year, maybe another from round two, that will grow and learn and become better.
Let’s check back in 10 years and see how many NBA Finals the Indiana Pacers participate in. I’ll save you some time. It will be zero.
You’re so all over the place, it’s incredible. Like, your point is that this contract is a negative because it will mean they can’t sign free agents? First, when has Indiana ever been able to improve via free agency? They’ll have access to exceptions and other avenues, as well, but saying that signing a really good player who fits with your team and has familiarity already is a bad move because you might not be able to sign a free agent in two years is some fun logic.
They’ll have to rely on…owning all but one of their future firsts after this year, and relying on players they draft to get better. Like, say, Andrew Nembhard, who is already on the team. Like other young development guys, like Nesmith, who they have signed for 3/30 the next three seasons, and who could slide back to a bench role at that rate. Or maybe their two lottery picks who didn’t even play in the postseason.
Farther up you site the fact that they “barely got past the Knicks” which, sure, if you count outplaying them in five or six of those games and completely dominating games 6 & 7.
Oh but hey, I’ll cede that one to you even, as long as you apply your “factor in close games” approach to the Celtics series, when they could have been up 3-1 very easily, despite also losing their best player 1.5 games in.
And then tossing in the ten years bet…sure, okay. It is very hard to reach an NBA Finals. Statistically it’s nearly impossible to expect a trip. Should any team just not try in that case? Should teams not try to build winning rosters and systems so fans can watch good basketball and enjoy the product? I’ll gladly take 10 years of fun and no Finals while never having tanked.
I appreciate your comments and I would say much the same thing if I was a Pacers fan. Good luck this coming season and I hope they can battle their way to some exciting playoff basketball again. Fingers crossed the team stays healthy. Keep the comments coming I enjoy reading your opinions.