A new contract with free agent forward Pascal Siakam will be one of the Pacers‘ priorities this summer, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, who adds that the options to replace Siakam may be limited if they can’t re-sign him. The two-time All-Star was a valuable addition for Indiana after being acquired from Toronto in January and played a major role in the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals. He was the Pacers’ leading scorer at 21.7 PPG in the 41 regular season games he played, as well as their top scorer in the playoffs at 21.6 PPG.
“Pascal was a great fit,” general manager Chad Buchanan said. “Obviously, we targeted him in the trade. I’ve liked him for a long time and I thought he came in and was a tremendous piece to the puzzle for us and had major impact on the team both on the court and in the locker room. He seems to be happy here and we’re obviously happy with him and hope this is something long-term for both sides.”
If Siakam and the team are unable to out a new deal, Dopirak points to former Pacers star Paul George as a potential target. He and the Clippers haven’t been able to reach an extension agreement, with L.A. reportedly unwilling to give George the four-year contract he desires. Dopirak also names the Knicks’ OG Anunoby, the Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan, the Hornets’ Miles Bridges and the Sixers’ Tobias Harris as other free agents who could replace Siakam, but Indiana would face competition for all of them and wouldn’t necessarily have the cap room necessary to pursue some of them.
There’s more on the Pacers:
- In a separate story for The Indianapolis Star, Dopirak looks at each player on the roster and examines their prospects for next season. He states that the team and center Myles Turner have both expressed interest in another extension before he becomes a free agent in 2025.
- T.J. McConnell went from being out of the rotation on opening night to playing crucial minutes in the conference finals, Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com notes in a player review. The veteran guard’s value to the Pacers became more apparent as the season wore on, and he looks like a bargain for next season at $9.3MM in the final year of his contract. “Getting this franchise back into the playoffs and making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals when not a single person had us going there, it was really fun just to play alongside the group and in games like that,” McConnell said.
- After participating in a pre-draft workout with the Pacers on Tuesday, Purdue’s Lance Jones talked about the prospect of staying in Indiana for his NBA career (video link from the Indianapolis Star). “It’s very exciting,” Jones said. “I love Indiana. They’ve accepted me with open arms, and it just feels like another home for me.”
I’m going to make myself vulnerable here but it’s worth the risk because I’m curious.
Please tell me what you think when you watch Pascal Siakam play. I haven’t really watched him in Toronto except for here and there.
He’s always put up good numbers including in these playoffs. He can board a little bit, defend a little bit, and that foul line jump shot of his goes in every single time. The numbers are there.
But to be honest, when I watch him play and they go to him for a bucket or when he’s got the ball and trying to drive in for a score, the guy sucks.
It’s a turnover or a bad pass or a faulty dribble or a missed shot that is blocked or something. I really don’t see when watching him play, that he deserves anything near a Max contract. You can’t throw the ball in to him and count on a very good attempt at getting two points or going to the foul line.
Whenever I watch, it’s a turnover or a missed shot or some kind of head scratching attempt.
Now I know the numbers prove he is effective but I just don’t see it when I watch him play.., outside of that beautiful foul line jump shot. Let me know what you think. Am I way off base or?
He is inconsistent. One game he is an all star another he is ok. Myles Turner is the one that has slowed down this year.
Yes Arc I agree with that also. Watching the Indiana series, I was sure glad the Warriors didn’t go all in on either Myles Turner or Siakam in a trade.
He’s extremely versatile. I can’t think of 1 thing that he’s below average at. He can score in pretty much every way. He can rebound & pass really well, he’s a really good defender. He’s consistently stepped his game up in the biggest games. He’s sorta perfect as far as NBA forwards go. I’m gonna take a wild guess & say that you probably love Andrei Kirilenko. Siakam is basically if Kirilenko was a better scorer/ball-handler. But as I’ve said numerous times before, the issue (clearly) isn’t that Siakam sucks, something is just off with the way yall watch basketball
Sankara I appreciate your comment. I know my perspective is not always correct. Andre Kirilenko by the way was not a player I was fond of. He really was about average at everything.
But as I said, the numbers show that Pascal Siakam is getting it done. I just see a different player when I watch him aside from that can’t miss foul line jump shot.
I think what makes Siakam good is his versitility as sankara said. He can do everything decently: defend, pass, make plays, drive, shoot 2s, shoot 3s. Hard to find players who dont have giant holes in their game. Even future HOFs like Chris Paul can’t shoot the perimeter,
That said, if you take only his offense alone, or only his defense alone, it is underwhelming. His numbers are inconsistent because teams keep trying to make him their number one guy and he isn’t capable of leading an offense. He’s not a max contract player you can build a team around, which Toronto found out after Kawhi left.
I see him more like a Marcus Smart, Tobias Harris, Khris Middleton type player. A very good supplementary player that every team would love to have at a fair salary. Shines bright when a better scorer is on the team.
reflect, yes, agreed. But you say that every team would love to have a guy like this at a fair salary and perhaps that’s why I’m so critical because he is crying for a Max deal !! I think that’s why the Raptors traded him.
So I watch this guy and have max deal on the brain and think to myself there’s a turnover, there’s a bad pass, there’s a falling out of bounds, and there’s a block shot attempt underneath, and a guard just scored on you.
I think that’s the angle I’m coming from which probably should be a separate discussion aside from analyzing his game.
So yes he’s Tonias Harris. But he’s Nicholas Batum wannabe after watching these playoffs.
Here in Indiana I watched a lot of Siakam after the trade. He is a solid additional option for a team – albeit one that can’t always be your #1 option. He has games where it all seems to work (first couple games on the Bucks series) and others where he doesn’t appear to be better than an average starter.
For Indiana – he is definitely a max player. There isn’t a ton of FA banging down the door to come here and he seems to be comfortable with the team and city. He gives off genuinely good dude vibes.
He needs to continue to work on his 3pt game (that’s important with Pacers style of play) and his ballhandling…to a point above he tends to be a bit loose with the ball. He plays decent D (though getting backed down by Hart means he could build a bit more strength), will crash the glass, and has a solid mid-range game.
Yes I totally get it. Thank you for the perspective and well written post.
Siakam is a clear #2 or #3, not a #1. It’s not that he “sucks”, but his game is just… boring. It’s not exciting to watch unless he’s really in a groove, and being above-average at everything means there’s a lot of things you just don’t excel at, which is what people have come to expect from players. Basketball has become more and more a game of extremes, and Siakam is kind of a throwback in that he doesn’t dominate in any particular area. So the mistakes tend to stick out more in your mind than the good stuff he does do, because it’s not visually impressive at all. The pullup J is aesthetically pleasing, so it sticks out in a positive way.
Just my 2 cents.
That’s a good post. I think you explained the situation well.