Pascal Siakam Shares How He Felt About Leaving Raptors in Pacers Trade

Pascal Siakam said he never wanted to leave the Toronto Raptors and saw himself as a player who could spend his whole career with the organization

Pascal Siakam didn’t want to go.

That’s been the rumored message for months now. Don’t trade for me, he was conveying to teams inquiring with the Toronto Raptors about his availability. The skeptic will say it was a leverage play. Maybe it was. But from Siakam, it sounds genuine.

“Toronto is just all I’ve known — and all I’ve wanted to know,” he told the Players’ Tribune. “I never asked for a trade. Maybe this sounds naive, but I felt I could be one of those dudes who spends his whole career on one team.”

Siakam said he wanted to stay with the Raptors and lead Toronto into its post-championship era. He helped lead the organization to its first championship and the goal was to lead Toronto to its second.

But the Raptors wanted to go in a different direction.

Extension talks weren’t fruitful, and Toronto was ready to pivot into a new era with Scottie Barnes at the helm.

A few days ago, that pivot became real. Siakam recalled his agent coming to ask where he wanted to go next. Considering his contract situation, the 29-year-old soon-to-be free agent had some control over the situation. To that point, Siakam said, he hadn’t considered the possibility of leaving Toronto. He didn’t want to leave, he said. But he had no choice.

“I also realize it’s a business,” Siakam said, “and it’s their right to decide when it’s time for an era to end.”

Of the opportunities available, Siakam chose Indiana and Toronto made it happen, sending him to the Pacers for Bruce Brown, a couple of expiring contracts, and three first-round picks. Siakam is by all accounts excited about the new opportunity. It hadn’t been something he envisioned until recently, but the prospect of playing with Tyrese Haliburton in the NBA’s most explosive offense is understandably appealing.

Ironically, it’ll be next month on Valentine’s Day when Siakam returns to Toronto with the Pacers. The love may not be the same as it once was but for a player who meant so much to the organization, that day should be filled with fond memories and a showering of appreciation for one of the greatest to ever do it.