Toronto Raptors - Indiana Pacers Trade Grades

Emergency post for the Siakam trade!

The Raptors learned from their Fred VanVleet error and traded both OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam well before the trade deadline — no mucking about this time.

It’s great news for people like me! Between the two big Raptors trades and the Harden deal, it’s been #ContentSZN. I love when the trades come staggering in one at a time like drunken tourists from disparate time zones checking into the hostel for the night.

Here’s what yesterday brought us:

Raptors get: Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis Jr., Indiana’s 2024 first-round pick (likely in the high-teens/low-twenties), another 2024 first-round pick (the worst of Jazz/Clippers/Rockets/Thunder, likely in the high twenties) and an Indiana 2026 first-round pick, protected 1-4 (who knows what that’ll be?)

Pacers get: Pascal Siakam, a 2024 Pelicans second-round pick

Pelicans get: Cash

Indiana Pacers: B+

They did it! The Pacers finally added a forward-sized forward! Huzzah!

Before we consider the price, which was substantial, we have to talk about the on-court fit. It should be terrific.

Siakam is a much better player than Obi Toppin or Jalen Smith, whose minutes he’ll likely be taking. Obi was a great fit next to point god Tyrese Haliburton as a madman in transition who’s been accurate (if not particularly respected by defenses) from the three-point line, but he lost his starting job to Smith already (although he still plays more minutes than Smith). Neither player can be seen as anything close to a league-average starter; Siakam was an All-Star just last year and has a case again this season.

There isn’t much regular season offensive improvement to be made, considering the Pacers’ historically efficient point-getting. Given the intricacies of integrating a relatively high-wattage player, they may even take a small step back. But one star doesn’t make a constellation, and playoff defenses will have much more trouble blotting out two heavenly orbs.

Siakam’s value on offense will be clearer when the lights are brightest. Teams with just one primary creator tend to suffer in the playoffs, when defenses get smarter about gunking up offensive engines. As incandescent as Haliburton has been, the Pacers desperately needed more creation.

And Siakam has been an above-average creator for a long time. He’s used to operating in the tight confines of the Raptor’s habitually claustrophobic offense (which his lack of shooting contributed to, to be fair), and it’s made him better able to squeeze passes through tight windows. He’s even a reliable secondary pick-and-roll ballhandler:

He’s a high-skill player with surprising touch around the basket and at floater range, and he’s become a master of manipulating defenses with one more dribble than they expect. He’s quick, but unhurried in the painted area. Just when defenders are sure he’s going up for a layup, he makes the quick dump-off:

Siakam can create and make his own shot, as he’s been an above-average isolation scorer for years, too. The Pacers are not overflowing with guys who can do much with the ball, so this will be a helpful end-of-shot-clock solution:

That’s All-Defensive player Jrue Holiday getting shrugged off as easily as removing a coat!

Siakam is a beast in transition, even if he’s not quite as frantic as Toppin. He is far more comfortable taking the ball to the rack than Toppin is, though, so he won’t be as dependent on lobs when the Pacers are runnin’ and gunnin’.

A reliable midrange jumper also elevates Siakam’s scoring potential. (Fun quirk: he loves going through the legs when he gathers for a sixteen-footer.) This isn’t a sexy shot, and in the regular season, it’s not always a great one. But the need for guys who can create offense from thin air is greater in the oxygen-depleted heights of the playoffs:

Pascal’s three-pointer is his greatest weakness as an offensive player, and it may cause some problems. But outside of an unbelievably icy start to this season, Siakam is usually willing to take them when open, and he’s hitting 35% of his catch-and-shoot threes even with that poor beginning (he’s been on fire of late). Playing with a point guard of Haliburton’s level tends to elevate shooting percentages, as much of Indiana’s supporting cast can attest. Siakam may end up a mid-thirties three-point shooter in Indiana, which would be acceptable.

To be clear, Siakam isn’t a top-fifteen offensive player. His statline this season of 22/6/5 on 52% from the field and 32% from three is great, but not elite. He was overtaxed as the Raptor’s primary offensive fulcrum these last few years. At nearly 30 years old, he’s likely a finished product, and he’s had some playoff struggles.

But put him in a defined second in the pecking order, and he’ll shine. He’s always had the Renaissance man skill set that makes for a perfect sidekick. If that sounds like damning with faint praise, well, he’s also going to get more than $200 million this offseason. High-level sidekicks get paid.

Indiana wouldn’t have made this trade if they didn’t have a fairly concrete understanding of what it would take to re-sign Siakam, who is a free agent at the end of this year. He’s claimed he wants the max. I think it’s likelier he gets something a bit under that, but after the haul the Pacers gave up for him, they may have to give him whatever he desires.

That’s okay! The Pacers, as a whole, have done a superb job managing their cap sheet. Realistically, small-market teams almost always have to overpay to retain star-level players. Siakam may not be quite as talented as some of his second-banana peers, but he’s a great fit next to Tyrese Haliburton and fills so many of the holes on this Pacers’ roster.

This trade doesn’t elevate Indiana into instant-contender status, but it does make them far more dangerous. Teams with offenses this good always have the proverbial puncher’s chance, and if the upgrade from Smith/Toppin to Siakam can bring Indiana’s defense to a respectably mediocre level, it would be unwise to write them off in any series.

Defensively, Siakam isn’t as good as his former teammate Anunoby, but he is a versatile and above-average defender who can fit any lineup. Going from Toppin, one of the worst defenders in basketball, and Smith to Siakam is a massive upgrade, and there should be a chain reaction. The Pacers can now put Siakam on the most threatening forward and Poetry favorite Aaron Nesmith on the best ballhandler, shielding Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield and providing much-needed help to poor center Myles Turner, who has been trying to stop biblical offensive floods with an umbrella.

The price for Siakam wasn’t cheap. Three firsts, even ones likely to be lower-value picks, is no joke, particularly when considering the contract they’ll have to hand him, which could look ugly in 2027 and 2028. And there’s always a chance the season goes awry for whatever reason, and Siakam decides to take his talents elsewhere. But realistically, the Pacers were unlikely to obtain a more talented fit in the next year or two. Because two of their swapped picks will be transmitted this year, it won’t be long before the Pacers can trade a bunch more picks if they think they can make another big move, too.

This was a worthy swing, and if nothing else, it rockets the Pacers to the top of my League Pass rankings for the foreseeable future.