Grade the Trade: CP3 dealt again in chaotic Warriors pitch

Would the Raptors make this trade?

The Toronto Raptors won the title in 2019, and were legitimate contenders in 2020. Things began to fall apart from there, as they had a down year playing in Tampa, FL due to COVID restrictions in Canada. From there they have been stuck in NBA purgatory, not good enough to contend but too good to bottom out. That culminated this summer in Fred VanVleet walking for nothing.

It’s not clear that the Raptors know how they want to move forward, but any path they take probably requires moving on from Pascal Siakam. They just re-signed center Jakob Poeltl and are committed to third-year point forward Scottie Barnes. That doesn’t really leave space for Siakam.

Masai Ujiri is known for driving hard bargains and demanding outrageously large trade packages. It’s very possible that he looks at this return for Siakam and turns it down, instead asking for Andrew Wiggins to be the matching salary. That would obviously kill a deal from the Warriors’ side.

Is this a fair deal, though? Siakam is on an expiring deal, so it’s hard for Toronto to think they’ll get a major haul for him. This brings them a solid veteran point guard to run the offense and two upside swings in Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski; that’s not a bad return, and it’s even better when you add in a first-round pick five years away; Stephen Curry will be 40 years old by the 2028 draft.

If this is offered to the Raptors for Siakam, they should probably take it. It seems like more than they will get from anywhere else, and their books would largely clear after this year if they want to use cap space next summer. They should make this deal.