NBA News: Raptors President Shoots Down Siakam Rumors

The Toronto Raptors looked to be close to blowing up their championship roster after a sign-and-trade deal with the Miami Heat saw Kyle Lowry be traded for Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa.

Raptors vice chairman and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri has since made it clear to Pascal Siakam’s camp that he is in no danger of being traded away from the organization.

The Athletic’s Sam Amick reports that even though Ujiri was listening to calls from the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, there has been no pressure yet from Siakam’s side to trade him as the Raptors’ championship window has closed for now.

“Sources say Ujiri has recently made it clear to Siakam’s side that he’s not being shopped,” Amick wrote, “and that there’s a clear basketball vision here for how these pieces — old and new — can work."

“But in stark contrast to the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia or the Damian Lillard saga in Portland, it appears there is no uncomfortableness or pressure on the Siakam front, in large part, because sources say he still wants to be in Toronto, especially after being away for a season while playing in Tampa. And yes, for the many people who wondered, that remains the case even after the Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes fourth overall and then said goodbye to Kyle Lowry in free agency (via sign-and-trade to Miami).”

When Barnes was selected fourth overall by the Raptors, there was a growing fear among the fanbase that they would also have to say goodbye to Siakam very soon as a partial, but a major rebuild looks to be on the horizon.

But with Ujiri’s adamant stance on keeping Siakam, it’s no question that the Raptors are completely Siakam’s team now.

The Cameroonian has three years and $106 million left on his contract, and it’s hard to see the Clippers fielding a competitive offer with a package of newly-acquired Eric Bledsoe, Terance Mann and Luke Kennard compared to the Warriors’ potential package of James Weisman and 2021 first-rounders such as Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody for example.

The keys of the offense are now fully in the hands of Fred VanVleet and Siakam, but it’s hard to see the Raptors remaining competitive next season as they still lack height in the frontcourt.

Unless Achiuwa makes a monstrous leap forward and Chris Boucher becomes more adept at being a center, the Raptors will need to address that sooner than later if they want to be more competitive this season.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Raptors’ best rebounder was Yuta Watanabe–a 6-foot-9 forward–who had a 17.1 percent field goal defensive rebounding rate, which meant that he was mostly the one who gobbled up the rebounds on the Raptors.

When it comes to bigs, Aron Baynes was their best rebounder with an 18.9 percent defensive rebounding rate while Boucher was at 18.2 percent.

Toronto finished the regular season with an average of 41.6 rebounds per game, the 28th in the league.

The Raptors have a ton of things to fix going into the season, but with Ujiri firmly at the helm and Siakam not asking for a trade, the Raptors have some sense of stability.