Insider Reveals Pacers Offer to Raptors for Pascal Siakam
The Indiana Pacers offer for Pascal Siakam certainly seems intriguing.
As of Tuesday night, trade talks between Indiana and the Toronto Raptors for the two-time All-NBA forward surrounded Bruce Brown Jr., Jordan Nwora, and at least one additional player, along with three first-round picks, as The Athletic and Yahoo! reported.
Indiana has reportedly been reluctant to include sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin or rookie forward Jarace Walker in trade talks for Toronto. Instead, the offer made to Toronto is said to have included the 25-year-old Nwora and either Obi Toppin or Jalen Smith, or Aaron Nesmith, according to Yahoo!’s Jake Fischer.
The first-round picks being offered are reportedly both Indiana’s picks this year, its own first-round pick and a late first-round pick that will be the least favorable of either Oklahoma City or the Los Angeles Clippers. The other pick will be a future first-round pick, likely in 2026 due to the Stepien Rule which would make Indiana's 2025 first-round pick untradeable.
The 6-foot-8 Nwora has not been much of a contributor for the Pacers this year, appearing in just 18 games while averaging 5.2 points per game. For his career, he’s been a 38.1% three-point shooter, but he has made very little impact thus far in his four-year NBA career.
Nwora would essentially be matching salary in a trade for Siakam as his $3 million deal is set to expire following this season.
Toppin, Smith, and Nesmith are far more interesting prospects who should hold value to the Raptors in a Siakam deal.
The 25-year-old Toppin is putting together an impressive season with the Pacers, averaging 11.6 points while shooting 42.1% from three-point range and a league-leading 72.1% inside the arc. He already has familiarity with Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, having played with both of them in New York last season. Like Nwora, Toppin too is on an expiring $6.8 million deal this year.
The 6-foot-10 Smith, 23, is also having a career year, averaging 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 46.8% on 2.3 three-pointers per game off the bench for the Pacers. He would add some much-needed frontcourt depth for the Raptors as a coveted floor-spacing big alongside Scottie Barnes. Smith has a player option for $5.4 million next season.
Nesmith, 24, just signed an extension in October that will pay him $33 million over the next three seasons. He too is having the best year of his career, averaging 11.8 points while shooting 46.6% from three-point range, and could help fill Siakam’s spot in the frontcourt as an undersized 6-foot-5 wing.
