Masai Ujiri Gets Emotional Discussing Pascal Siakam Trade
Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri lowered his gaze, taking several breaths to gather himself, before wiping his eyes and mustering the courage to speak about Pascal Siakam.
For the man who has been at the organization's helm since 2013 and was the critical builder in building the 2019 NBA Championship-winning team, it’s not easy to trade away so many athletes that have defined his executive career.
“You think that's easy for me? It's not easy. It's not easy,” he said at the OVO Athletic Centre on Thursday. “I’m a tough mother f----- Honestly, the human part of this business is tough."
"My wife and my kids see me suffer. My son texted me and said, ‘You traded OG [Anunoby]?’ It’s tough, it’s really tough.”
Letting Pascal Siakam go, the final core piece from that team, albeit in a trade with the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown Jr., Jordan Nworal, three first-round picks, and Kira Lewis, who arrived from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the package, was even more challenging.
And considering Ujiri said he spent two hours in a Kenya hotel trying to build up the courage to call DeRozan and tell him he had been traded in 2018, it’s a near-unprecedented task for Ujiri in his 10 years with the Raptors.
“Two African guys that won a championship. I share that with him,” the British-born Nigerian-Canadian said, wringing his hands as he mustered the words to explain what the now 29-year-old meant to him.
“A lot of people don’t know that when Pascal came to Basketball Without Borders in South Africa, he had been admitted to pastoral school in Cameroon and only came to Basketball Without Borders to see his sister, who lives in South Africa...again, I say to you guys, that guy's success is my success no matter where he is."
While playing in college at New Mexico State, Siakam also dealt with the death of his father and how that helped motivate him to become the person and player he is now with the Pacers, and was in Toronto.
To say Siakam over-delivered on expectations is an understatement. Thought to be nothing more than a contributing player after being picked 27th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, he developed into one of the league’s top players and the face of the Raptors.
An NBA title, two NBA All-Star nominations, two All-NBA teams, and a Most Improved Player award later, there’s little doubt that Siakam established himself as one of the top Raptors of all-time in his nine-year Toronto tenure. Not dissimilar to other members of the 2019 core, including the one and dones, who etched themselves in Raptors lore from a single campaign.
“When you look at a guy that has that kind of impact, that kind of capacity, in our league, it's something, that's just who he is,” Ujiri said. “That guy worked harder than everybody, came to practice before everybody, left after everybody. No excuses... he played every freaking game.”
While Ujiri says he and Siakam had a beneficial conversation about the likelihood of a trade when the Raptors traveled to Los Angeles, he admitted there was some thought put towards re-signing the power forward, given the fickle trade marketplace.
Looking ahead to a post-Siakam era
Still, with three first-round draft picks and a trio of useful pieces for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign, the Raptors felt there was enough to get back for Siakam, a gamble worth taking before he could have walked away in free agency.
As the Raptors look towards the rest of the season and beyond, building off a 121-97 win against Lowry’s Miami Heat on Wednesday, they do so as current pieces step into more significant roles, and management continues tinkering with the roster through all possible avenues.
Scottie Barnes is the face of the team -- he’s thrust into that role. And RJ Barrett, along with Immanuel Quickley, are also looking like bright spots, even as Ujiri says the Raptors may not be done making moves ahead of the February 8 NBA Trade Deadline.
“I don't know if he is ready for that responsibility, but we have to put him in position,” Ujiri said of Barnes. “We have to put him in a position to at least grow and start to see dividends of the work he is putting in to become that kind of player.”
With four key players from the 2019 team and the core heading to this season already shipped in recent weeks, this Raptors’ team doesn’t have championship aspirations in 2023-24 -- and that’s okay, as Ujiri and his staff build towards the next era of Raptors basketball.
“It’s going to take patience. We are going to grow gradually and try to build this team the right way.”
