Report: Blazers Not Among Teams Chasing Pascal Siakam
Smoke about Pascal Siakam's potential trade to the Portland Trail Blazers has all but dissipated entirely.
As Masai Ujiri takes calls from interested teams on Siakam, it's become clear the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are the suitors "enamored" with the former Second Team All-NBA honoree, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
A source with knowledge of the situation in Toronto said the Raptors are receiving numerous calls about Siakam and team president Masai Ujiri is “listening like a good negotiator.” The Kings, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are said to be particularly “enamored” with Siakam.
Reports surfaced in late July, leading up to the NBA draft, that Toronto and Portland had discussed the framework of a prospective trade centered around Siakam and C.J. McCollum.
Though the Raptors' desire to bring in a veteran guard with limited defensive versatility and a three-year, $100 million contract didn't make much sense on the surface, they were supposedly more intrigued by that theoretical swap than the Blazers. According to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, it was Portland who ultimately let discussions on a McCollum-Siakam swap die.
A few days later, after Norman Powell re-signed and most of their top targets were off the free agency board early, the Blazers' momentum toward running it back with the same core next season—despite Damian Lillard's calls for change—was further affirmed. Jason Quick of The Athletic reported that Portland wasn't "actively shopping" McCollum, as well as that Neil Olshey wouldn't trade him just to placate Lillard.
Zooming out, Siakam obviously doesn't seem like a realistic trade target for the Blazers. Ben Simmons appears even less likely to come to Rip City.
Where does that leave Portland? Right where Olshey wants his team, apparently, at an organizational crossroads where only Lillard's trade demand or the Blazers wildly outperforming expectations in 2021-22 will cause them to go one direction or the other.
[Jason Anderson, The Sacramento Bee] [h/t NBA Analysis Network]