Is Pascal Siakam untouchable in your opinion?

[alienchild]

Reasons why he is untouchable:
- DeRozan-esque work ethic
- Perfect fit for modern NBA
- Excels at a position that is difficult to fill
- Young and under team control for foreseeable future

Reason(s) why he is available in a trade:
- You could get Anthony Davis

I personally cannot think of another reason other than the prospect of a legitimate superstar coming back. As a fan, I am obviously attached to Siakam and his meteoric rise as a Raptor, but his all-star buzz and MIP case make the emotions of it backed up with facts.

There is also the bigger question of team-building philosophy from a fan's perspective. Do you want to sell off the prospects we have invested time in supporting and watching develop for a superstar who does not have that same connection with the franchise?

Curious to see how people evaluate Siakam and how this question ties into their broader perspective on fandom.

The only player he is tradeable for right now is Kevin Durant...

You don't like Giannis?

[Young_Buc]

I like Pascal better than Bosh at this point. Better defender, ball handler, passer and 3 point shooter. Bosh played losing basketball until he played with 2 top all timers. Mark my words, playoffs 2019 will be the year of Siakam much like PGs, Oladipo and Curry's coming out parties.

This aged well

[Hero]

KD is a FA.

The option people are thinking about is Davis but 1 year of Davis is not worth the risk. Especially with his injury problems.

Reasons why he is untouchable:
- DeRozan-esque work ethic
- Perfect fit for modern NBA
- Excels at a position that is difficult to fill
- Young and under team control for foreseeable future

Reason(s) why he is available in a trade:
- You could get Anthony Davis

I personally cannot think of another reason other than the prospect of a legitimate superstar coming back. As a fan, I am obviously attached to Siakam and his meteoric rise as a Raptor, but his all-star buzz and MIP case make the emotions of it backed up with facts.

There is also the bigger question of team-building philosophy from a fan's perspective. Do you want to sell off the prospects we have invested time in supporting and watching develop for a superstar who does not have that same connection with the franchise?

Curious to see how people evaluate Siakam and how this question ties into their broader perspective on fandom.

The only player he is tradeable for right now is Kevin Durant...

[Meursault]

I had a list of players that I'd trade Pascal Siakam for. Things have changed. There's only one player now that I would trade Pascal Siakam for: Pascal Siakam.

[execoftheyear]

as much as I like Siakam, I feel like he is a product of our development team and isn't a generational natural talent. In other words, I give more credit to our development staff rather than Siakam's abilities and have confidence that we can draft another long, athletic raw prospect late in the draft and develop him similar to Siakam and our other late prospects. We have so many late picks and undrafted prospects that panned out that leads me to believe our development staff is the reason why we are able to turn overlooked prospects into lottery type players. Boucher is another example and I could see him having a similar trajectory to Siakam's development.

That being said, no question I would trade Siakam for Davis. It's a no brainer. Injuries are a concern but we also have a top notch medical staff that would definitely help with Davis' chronic injuries. I feel like Davis under our development staff and coaches would take him to another level and maximize his abilities more so than in New Orleans.

[Gold Dragon]

as much as I like Siakam, I feel like he is a product of our development team and isn't a generational natural talent. In other words, I give more credit to our development staff rather than Siakam's abilities and have confidence that we can draft another long, athletic raw prospect late in the draft and develop him similar to Siakam and our other late prospects. We have so many late picks and undrafted prospects that panned out that leads me to believe our development staff is the reason why we are able to turn overlooked prospects into lottery type players. Boucher is another example and I could see him having a similar trajectory to Siakam's development.

That being said, no question I would trade Siakam for Davis. It's a no brainer. Injuries are a concern but we also have a top notch medical staff that would definitely help with Davis' chronic injuries. I feel like Davis under our development staff and coaches would take him to another level and maximize his abilities more so than in New Orleans.

I have lots of faith in Masai and our developmental team as well but I doubt we will ever see another growth curve like we have in pascal. To think that will be replicated on a regular basis is next level.

Stepping into your hypothetical, why use assets to trade for AD if you can develop guys like pascal on a regular basis? I'd much rather have 4-5 guys like pascal than one chronically injured Davis.

[macNcheese3]

not untouchable. if somehow we were able to get KD or LeBron and retain Kawhi, then of course not. Generally, speaking I don't think Paskal is going anywhere. Love his game and work ethic.

[Ado05]

Wouldnt trade him for anything less than a franchise player.

[execoftheyear]

as much as I like Siakam, I feel like he is a product of our development team and isn't a generational natural talent. In other words, I give more credit to our development staff rather than Siakam's abilities and have confidence that we can draft another long, athletic raw prospect late in the draft and develop him similar to Siakam and our other late prospects. We have so many late picks and undrafted prospects that panned out that leads me to believe our development staff is the reason why we are able to turn overlooked prospects into lottery type players. Boucher is another example and I could see him having a similar trajectory to Siakam's development.

That being said, no question I would trade Siakam for Davis. It's a no brainer. Injuries are a concern but we also have a top notch medical staff that would definitely help with Davis' chronic injuries. I feel like Davis under our development staff and coaches would take him to another level and maximize his abilities more so than in New Orleans.

I have lots of faith in Masai and our developmental team as well but I doubt we will ever see another growth curve like we have in pascal. To think that will be replicated on a regular basis is next level.

Stepping into your hypothetical, why use assets to trade for AD if you can develop guys like pascal on a regular basis? I'd much rather have 4-5 guys like pascal than one chronically injured Davis.

Masai's comment about there being around 10 Joel Embiids walking around Africa stood out to me and leads me to believe that he has a list of prospects that he has interest in in his back pocket. Why trade assets to trade for AD? You answered it. Being able to develop guys like Pascal on a regular basis makes Pascal expendable. If you know you can develop another Pascal then why not cash in on him for a generational talent like AD, knowing that you can just develop another Siakam. People are getting way too attached to our homegrown talent, I understand that but the only way to guarantee a championship or be in that championship conversation perennially is if you gather generational talent. Siakam, though good, is not that.

And Davis' injuries, imo, are a result of overusage. He has noone, NOONE, on that team (Jrue Holiday, arguably but he's had his fair share of injuries) and as a result is asked to do way too much carrying. In our system, as seen with Kawhi, we can afford to rest players and still manage to win games during the regular season, keeping them fresh for the playoffs, when it will truly matter.

[Gold Dragon]

Masai's comment about there being around 10 Joel Embiids walking around Africa stood out to me and leads me to believe that he has a list of prospects that he has interest in in his back pocket. Why trade assets to trade for AD? You answered it. Being able to develop guys like Pascal on a regular basis makes Pascal expendable. If you know you can develop another Pascal then why not cash in on him for a generational talent like AD, knowing that you can just develop another Siakam. People are getting way too attached to our homegrown talent, I understand that but the only way to guarantee a championship or be in that championship conversation perennially is if you gather generational talent. Siakam, though good, is not that.

And Davis' injuries, imo, are a result of overusage. He has noone, NOONE, on that team and as a result is asked to do way too much carrying. In our system, as seen with Kawhi, we can afford to rest players and still manage to win games during the regular season.

Like I said next level.

That Joel Embiid comment is hyperbole. I don't know what to say if you really believe that masai will be able to find Embiids and Pascals in the late picks of the draft on a regular basis or undrafted. Those picks will likely need to be included in an AD trade.

That must be some good stuff you are smoking.

[execoftheyear]

Masai's comment about there being around 10 Joel Embiids walking around Africa stood out to me and leads me to believe that he has a list of prospects that he has interest in in his back pocket. Why trade assets to trade for AD? You answered it. Being able to develop guys like Pascal on a regular basis makes Pascal expendable. If you know you can develop another Pascal then why not cash in on him for a generational talent like AD, knowing that you can just develop another Siakam. People are getting way too attached to our homegrown talent, I understand that but the only way to guarantee a championship or be in that championship conversation perennially is if you gather generational talent. Siakam, though good, is not that.

And Davis' injuries, imo, are a result of overusage. He has noone, NOONE, on that team and as a result is asked to do way too much carrying. In our system, as seen with Kawhi, we can afford to rest players and still manage to win games during the regular season.

Like I said next level.

That Joel Embiid comment is hyperbole. I don't know what to say if you really believe that masai will be able to find Embiids and Pascals in the late picks of the draft on a regular basis or undrafted. Those picks will likely need to be included in an AD trade.

That must be some good stuff you are smoking.

The man has basketball camps in Africa and has a proven track record of being able to evaluate talent so I trust his word. That comment may have seemed exaggerated but you have to be naive or living under a rock to not recognize that there's genetic freaks over there. With the stuff Masai's been doing with basketball without borders, and all the training camps, these genetic freaks are now developing the necessary skills to be successful at the NBA level. I feel like there wasn't the right infrastructure for development over there until recently. In the past we only saw raw african players enter the draft with basically little to no actual NBA skills but were genetic freaks. It was usually the ones that came over to the States that got the proper development. Having the infrastructure in place in a pool full of genetic freaks will only increase the likelihood of more players to pan out. I feel like we're going to see more and more 7'0 players with crazy wingspans having guard skills come out of Africa.

[ciueli]

The issue with “I’d trade Pascal for Anthony Davis” is that the salary disparity is enormous so we would have to include one of our big contracts like Serge or Gasol. Add in our lack of picks and it’s hard to think up a trade New Orleans would be interested in that wouldn’t also completely gut our depth.

[execoftheyear]

The issue with “I’d trade Pascal for Anthony Davis” is that the salary disparity is enormous so we would have to include one of our big contracts like Serge or Gasol. Add in our lack of picks and it’s hard to think up a trade New Orleans would be interested in that wouldn’t also completely gut our depth.

our depth is composed of undrafted and late picks...I don't think it would be hard to replace "depth". Also getting Davis along with retaining Kawhi would surely attract free agent ring chasers.

Davis is the type of player you don't hesitate to gut your team for and worry about depth later.

[ciueli]

The issue with “I’d trade Pascal for Anthony Davis” is that the salary disparity is enormous so we would have to include one of our big contracts like Serge or Gasol. Add in our lack of picks and it’s hard to think up a trade New Orleans would be interested in that wouldn’t also completely gut our depth.

our depth is composed of undrafted and late picks...I don't think it would be hard to replace "depth". Also getting Davis along with retaining Kawhi would surely attract free agent ring chasers.

Davis is the type of player you don't hesitate to gut your team for and worry about depth later.

We would have to trade away multiple players who are above replacement for a player who misses time with injury every season. We’re into the tax so our means of replacing them are virtually nonexistent. We have no draft picks to help fill out the team. Even now we’re playing a guy we signed on a 10 day in the playoffs (Jodie Meeks, who sucks by the way) and we’re one injury to Kyle or FVV away from being forced to play Jeremy Lin extended minutes. We also have no guarantee that Danny Green will return next season even if Kawhi does, given how expensive his next contract could be.

[execoftheyear]

The issue with “I’d trade Pascal for Anthony Davis” is that the salary disparity is enormous so we would have to include one of our big contracts like Serge or Gasol. Add in our lack of picks and it’s hard to think up a trade New Orleans would be interested in that wouldn’t also completely gut our depth.

our depth is composed of undrafted and late picks...I don't think it would be hard to replace "depth". Also getting Davis along with retaining Kawhi would surely attract free agent ring chasers.

Davis is the type of player you don't hesitate to gut your team for and worry about depth later.

We would have to trade away multiple players who are above replacement for a player who misses time with injury every season. We’re into the tax so our means of replacing them are virtually nonexistent. We have no draft picks to help fill out the team. Even now we’re playing a guy we signed on a 10 day in the playoffs (Jodie Meeks, who sucks by the way) and we’re one injury to Kyle or FVV away from being forced to play Jeremy Lin extended minutes. We also have no guarantee that Danny Green will return next season even if Kawhi does, given how expensive his next contract could be.

I'm sure our scouts can find another undrafted gem that slips through the draft(fvv), or some overlooked player in the g league or even overseas. Heck, I feel like some of the players at the end of our bench could contribute (boucher, miller) and with an offseason with our development staff they may be ready as soon as next season. Worse case scenario, we end up trading Lowry for cap relief or picks to address our tax issue. My point is, it's not like we're completely stuck. If anything we can address our depth the following season when we would hopefully have more cap space(after making moves to dump contracts and letting existing ones expire). AD and Kawhi could easily carry a team full of scrubs to 60 wins.

[Uncle Dennis]

If trading him for AD lets us keep Kawhi, then of course he's not untouchable. Pascal is a great player, all star level, but no one's untouchable.

[VanWest82]

I don't think he's untouchable but when you have a feel good story like this come out of no where you don't turn your back on it. You embrace it. Spicy isn't going anywhere regardless of what direction we go in.

[hsb]

It's like some in this fan base never learned anything when Masai and Casey wasted years foolishly thinking Lowry and DeRozan were players you can center a team around and win in the playoffs, when it was clear after year 1 they weren't those types of players.

I can't wait to see how he develops as a player, second best player on this team and it's not close, but that also means he's not even the best player on the team lol. He's not untouchable, don't be homers.

[Boogie!]

It's like some in this fan base never learned anything when Masai and Casey wasted years foolishly thinking Lowry and DeRozan were players you can center a team around and win in the playoffs, when it was clear after year 1 they weren't those types of players.

I can't wait to see how he develops as a player, second best player on this team and it's not close, but that also means he's not even the best player on the team lol. He's not untouchable, don't be homers.

Lowry is still here and werr still winning. Lowry can't be your best player if you want to go all the way though and now he's not.

Also Idk how the siakam situation compares. Siakam in his first year in a prominent role on the team has shown no signs of being a playoff choker. In fact he's clearly established himself as being the second best player on the team. His numbers are Incredible, especially considering we're facing a team that he has struggled against all season. Siakam is for real.

[-TheDocOfDenial]

He probably is in the sense that there is no realistic trade in which he would be involved in. I don't think Raptors will make a play for AD.