Winning their first ever NBA title in 2019 was a big accomplishment for the Toronto Raptors, but that seems like so long ago. Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Kyle Lowry are no longer with the Raptors’ franchise and while Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet remain, this team still has a lot to figure out if they are to get back to a championship-level.
On the season, Toronto currently finds themselves as the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference at 21-21, just 6.5 games back from having the best record in the East. There are a ton of talented teams in the Eastern Conference this season, making the room for error extremely small.
When healthy, the Raptors certainly have a talented looking group with Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr. and rookie Scottie Barnes, but Toronto has not been able to stay healthy and their depth has been concerning all year long.
Toronto ranks dead-last in the league in bench scoring (23.7 PPG) and they have had a hard time finding production outside of VanVleet and Siakam due to the fact that Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr. and OG Anunoby have all missed time recently.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Celtics-Raptors Trade Features Pascal Siakam To Boston
Whether or not they will “buy” or “sell” at the NBA trade deadline remains a huge question mark for this franchise to answer, one that will need to be within the next three weeks. Masai Ujiri is one of the best executives in the league and he knows what he is doing, but in order for this team to begin moving forward again, they may have to be willing to sacrifice talent right now.
Pascal Siakam has turned himself into a terrific frontcourt talent for the Raptors since being drafted 27th overall in 2016, but he could wind up being the key to Toronto adding future value to their roster.
While there have been no talks about the Raptors wanting to move on from Siakam at this time, the All-Star big man’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors in the past and a borderline contending team like the Memphis Grizzlies could be willing to go “all-in” for him at the trade deadline.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Celtics-Raptors Trade Features Pascal Siakam To Boston
With Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and a ton of other talented, young players, the Grizzlies seem to be missing that one extra All-Star talent to push them over-the-edge this season. Could Pascal Siakam be the missing piece for this team?
Let’s take a look at a trade package put together by Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley that sends Raptors’ forward Pascal Siakam to the Memphis Grizzlies.
