Grade the Trade: Pacers land Pascal Siakam in 3-team blockbuster deal

The Indiana Pacers just completely turned the NBA on its head with the news that they will be trading for two-time All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam and pairing him up with Tyrese Haliburton.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN both reported the news, with the former relying on his previous reporting that the two sides were close to a deal.

The New Orleans Pelicans are also involved in the trade as a third team, but it’s currently unknown as to what they are receiving in the deal. Clarity will surely come at some point throughout the next day or two.

Here is the full outline of the trade (that is currently known:

Pacers receive: Pascal Siakam, Second-round pick (via NOP)

Raptors receive: Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis Jr., 2024 first-round pick (via IND), 2024 first-round pick (worst of UTA/HOU/LAC/OKC via IND), 2026 first-round pick (via IND)

Pelicans receive: TBD (Likely a heavily-protected second or cash considerations. They just wanted to dump Lewis.)

Siakam has been having a solid year for the Raptors, and based on Wojnarowski’s reporting, it seems as though he could be willing to sign a contract extension in Indiana this summer, which is great news for the Pacers.

So far this year, the All-Star forward is averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 52.2% from the field and 31.7% from behind the three-point line.

Losing Bruce Brown is a tough blow as the Pacers just landed him this summer, but he only has one year left on his deal after this one, and it’s a team option. He’ll be able to find a new home this offseason (if he wants one).

As for the Pelicans, it seems as though their involvement in the trade stems from the desire to ditch Kira Lewis Jr. and his contract, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Let’s take a look at the deal as a whole and grade it for the Pacers and Raptors (since the Pelicans don’t have much involvement. They get a C-.)

Grade the Pascal Siakam trade for Raptors

Heading into this season, it always seemed as though the Toronto Raptors were going to be sellers at the deadline, as rumors indicated as such for the past few years.

Masai Ujiri never acted on the rumors until this year, though, and once he did, he decided to completely alter the future outlook of the organization, pivoting to a restructuring plan around Scottie Barnes.

Earlier this season, he traded OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a second-rounder in this year’s draft.

Now, Pascal Siakam is heading to the Indiana Pacers, and they got back two solid draft picks and one selection destined to be late in the first round of this year’s draft.

Add in Bruce Brown as a quality rotation piece and Jordan Nwora and Kira Lewis Jr. as youngsters to take a chance on, and that’s a pretty good haul for a guy who will be a free agent this summer.

The likelihood of Siakam re-signing in Toronto wasn’t very high. While he may have liked to stay, the Raptors are clearly heading in a younger direction right now.

To get that much value out of a guy who almost definitely wasn’t going to be around next year is a win for the Raptors, especially after losing Fredd VanVleet for nothing in free agency this past summer.

Grade: A-

Grade the Pascal Siakam trade for Pacers

This trade completely changes the future outlook of the Indiana Pacers organization, as now, they finally have a co-star to pair with Tyrese Haliburton moving forward.

Pascal Siakam is exactly the type of guy Indiana has been chasing for the past year - a defensively sound forward who can play the four next to Myles Turner at the five.

In Siakam, however, they also found a player who can create his own shot, thus alleviating some of the pressure off of Haliburton, who has taken on a heavy load this season.

Before the deal became official, there was some doubt as to whether or not Siakam would sign an extension, as he reportedly was set on testing free agency this upcoming summer.

However, reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN indicate that he is very open to the idea of working out an extension, which would be a huge win for the Pacers and probably a reason why they were willing to give up so many picks.

The loss of Bruce Brown will be felt, as he was a good connector on offense and a solid defender for the Pacers, but Siakam brings a whole new level of talent to the mix.

The risk of the two sides not working out an extension persists, but with the reports that a deal is likely, this is a solid trade for a Pacers team that likely won’t be a top free-agency destination. They got their guy themselves.

Grade: B+