Toronto Cut Off Almost All Communication With Siakam In The 2023 Off-Season

[AHCanada]

More like they had nothing to talk about. Siakam wants the maximum amount he can possibly earn, which is well into the high $40s, low $50s. And he absolutely does not deserve such a massive contract, especially after the embarrassing performance in the play-in game. And he hasn't done nearly enough this season to change that stance either.

If Siakam doesn't accept a reasonable extension, somewhere closer $40 like he's paid now, there's no reason to talk.

Agreed. I just think there's a good chance he'll want to explore free agency and will likely get a bigger offer from another team. This is probably why Masai is currently looking to trade him for the best return. Too bad he didn't do it sooner...

[Truthrising]

We don’t deserve Siakam as a team or fanbase. Our fans have been brutal to the single best development story in our franchise’s history. Our sports talk people are trash and just clamouring for him to be traded. Even our PBOP disrespects the guy. It’s so sad. Why would Scottie want to stay here long term after seeing how we treat our homegrown stars?

Why should we have to be beholden to him? He’s making millions of dollars and can’t play D anymore or perform in the playoffs. But sure, let’s pay a regular season stat stuffer a juggernaut salary when he nearly 30 years old and mortgage the future on him.

We’ve giving him enough time, money and chances to be the man but he can only take us so far. Move on.

We shouldn’t pay good players super star salaries because we used to do stupid sh*t like that in the past and it got us nowhere.

I think we’re starting to see a decline in Siakams performance as he ages, this is why we’re starting to see his lack in defensive effort this year. Historically players entering into their 30’s they tend to regress.

[NBA Sheady]

If Siakam was truly unhappy with the Raptors FO he would've demanded a trade by now....and it would be publicly known.

That is a great profile pic.

[Lateral Quicks]

That doesn't sound like Masai at all.

Siakam is a heck of a player, and I'd love to have him back. He's a legit #2 option, and I expect he will be over most if not all of his next contract. But I'd be very reluctant to pay him the max he qualifies for. The unfortunate reality though is that #2 options get the max all the time. Look at guys like Middleton, for example. Pascal at $35-$40MM AAV, sure. Pascal at $50MM AAV, heck no.

[greekman]

That doesn't sound like Masai at all.

Siakam is a heck of a player, and I'd love to have him back. He's a legit #2 option, and I expect he will be over most if not all of his next contract. But I'd be very reluctant to pay him the max he qualifies for. The unfortunate reality though is that #2 options get the max all the time. Look at guys like Middleton, for example. Pascal at $35-$40MM AAV, sure. Pascal at $50MM AAV, heck no.

quickly will get 45+ million per year his next contract. og 40 million. vanvleet is making 45 million. at some point raptors are going to have to pay #2 options 50 million a year.

[Courtside]

That doesn't sound like Masai at all.

Siakam is a heck of a player, and I'd love to have him back. He's a legit #2 option, and I expect he will be over most if not all of his next contract. But I'd be very reluctant to pay him the max he qualifies for. The unfortunate reality though is that #2 options get the max all the time. Look at guys like Middleton, for example. Pascal at $35-$40MM AAV, sure. Pascal at $50MM AAV, heck no.

quickly will get 45+ million per year his next contract. og 40 million. vanvleet is making 45 million. at some point raptors are going to have to pay #2 options 50 million a year.

Put down the Ouzo and take a break, dude. There is no scenario where Quickley sniffs a contract this large, this time aruound. He'll earn himself more than he was asking from the Knicks, but we're talking mayybe 4/$120, not 4/$220.

[Public_Enemy101]

That doesn't sound like Masai at all.

Siakam is a heck of a player, and I'd love to have him back. He's a legit #2 option, and I expect he will be over most if not all of his next contract. But I'd be very reluctant to pay him the max he qualifies for. The unfortunate reality though is that #2 options get the max all the time. Look at guys like Middleton, for example. Pascal at $35-$40MM AAV, sure. Pascal at $50MM AAV, heck no.

quickly will get 45+ million per year his next contract. og 40 million. vanvleet is making 45 million. at some point raptors are going to have to pay #2 options 50 million a year.

You’ll go well over the cap once you factor in Scottie’s extension. Then what about RJ? That basically leaves you with little to no room to address the bench.

[realball]

More like they had nothing to talk about. Siakam wants the maximum amount he can possibly earn, which is well into the high $40s, low $50s. And he absolutely does not deserve such a massive contract, especially after the embarrassing performance in the play-in game. And he hasn't done nearly enough this season to change that stance either.

If Siakam doesn't accept a reasonable extension, somewhere closer $40 like he's paid now, there's no reason to talk.

Agreed. I just think there's a good chance he'll want to explore free agency and will likely get a bigger offer from another team. This is probably why Masai is currently looking to trade him for the best return. Too bad he didn't do it sooner...

For sure, and if he does, good for him. Like with FVV, if he can find a sucker to give him that contract, all the power to him. But if he wants to stay here and maintain the life he's built for his family as reports seem to indicate, he has to give us a discount. We have his replacement in hand, he has no leverage over the team.

[SFour]

If Siakam was truly unhappy with the Raptors FO he would've demanded a trade by now....and it would be publicly known.

That is a great profile pic.

mood for 2024 (hopefully)

[Jadoogar]

If Siakam was truly unhappy with the Raptors FO he would've demanded a trade by now....and it would be publicly known.

What does he gain by demanding a trade? Might as well just wait for the summer and go wherever he wants. I'm guessing he doesn't hate being in Toronto so in the worst case he can just resign here in the summer. He's going to have suitors, he's a good player. Teams have seen what Houston did by signing vets last summer. I think other bad teams will use them as an example. What's stopping the Spurs or Pistons from making a godfather offer to Siakam? The rest of their roster is cheap so it won't impact their payroll while giving them some respectability.

[Jadoogar]

That doesn't sound like Masai at all.

Siakam is a heck of a player, and I'd love to have him back. He's a legit #2 option, and I expect he will be over most if not all of his next contract. But I'd be very reluctant to pay him the max he qualifies for. The unfortunate reality though is that #2 options get the max all the time. Look at guys like Middleton, for example. Pascal at $35-$40MM AAV, sure. Pascal at $50MM AAV, heck no.

quickly will get 45+ million per year his next contract. og 40 million. vanvleet is making 45 million. at some point raptors are going to have to pay #2 options 50 million a year.

Put down the Ouzo and take a break, dude. There is no scenario where Quickley sniffs a contract this large, this time aruound. He'll earn himself more than he was asking from the Knicks, but we're talking mayybe 4/$120, not 4/$220.

that 45M number is obviously insane but the Raptors are going to get in salary trouble pretty quickly.
IQ - 25-30M (i'm going to guess he gets the Tyler Herro contract so it's likely closer 30M)
RJ - 25M
Poeltl - 20M
Scottie - 40M (takes effect next summer)
That's already 115, if Siakam gets 40-50M, you're already over the cap without any bench.

[binjumper]

Also from the same story...

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered an extension,” another source said.

And it's 'almost all' communication.

But after their disappointing 2022-23 season ended with an embarrassing play-in loss to Chicago, Ujiri and Toronto’s front office cut off almost all communication with Siakam last summer, leading the seven-year vet to wonder whether he was being punished, according to a source close to the player. The lack of contact was especially strange, with Siakam entering the final year of his contract. Typically, players of his calibre don’t get that close to free agency without signing an extension. Ujiri’s very public message to Siakam on Media Day: you’ll have to earn it – the natural implication being that he hadn’t already.

I hate the media. It's a cesspool of clickbait.

[KrazyP]

quickly will get 45+ million per year his next contract. og 40 million. vanvleet is making 45 million. at some point raptors are going to have to pay #2 options 50 million a year.

Put down the Ouzo and take a break, dude. There is no scenario where Quickley sniffs a contract this large, this time aruound. He'll earn himself more than he was asking from the Knicks, but we're talking mayybe 4/$120, not 4/$220.

that 45M number is obviously insane but the Raptors are going to get in salary trouble pretty quickly.
IQ - 25-30M (i'm going to guess he gets the Tyler Herro contract so it's likely closer 30M)
RJ - 25M
Poeltl - 20M
Scottie - 40M (takes effect next summer)
That's already 115, if Siakam gets 40-50M, you're already over the cap without any bench.

The 25-26 NBA salary cap is projected to be $165 million with a luxury tax threshold north of $200million. In your scenario, you'd have ~$40mill of wiggle room to build a bench.

[Jadoogar]

Put down the Ouzo and take a break, dude. There is no scenario where Quickley sniffs a contract this large, this time aruound. He'll earn himself more than he was asking from the Knicks, but we're talking mayybe 4/$120, not 4/$220.

that 45M number is obviously insane but the Raptors are going to get in salary trouble pretty quickly.
IQ - 25-30M (i'm going to guess he gets the Tyler Herro contract so it's likely closer 30M)
RJ - 25M
Poeltl - 20M
Scottie - 40M (takes effect next summer)
That's already 115, if Siakam gets 40-50M, you're already over the cap without any bench.

The 25-26 NBA salary cap is projected to be $165 million with a luxury tax threshold north of $200million. In your scenario, you'd have ~$40mill of wiggle room to build a bench.

And then you're paying the tax for a middling team?

[olu]

We don’t deserve Siakam as a team or fanbase. Our fans have been brutal to the single best development story in our franchise’s history. Our sports talk people are trash and just clamouring for him to be traded. Even our PBOP disrespects the guy. It’s so sad. Why would Scottie want to stay here long term after seeing how we treat our homegrown stars?

Why should we have to be beholden to him? He’s making millions of dollars and can’t play D anymore or perform in the playoffs. But sure, let’s pay a regular season stat stuffer a juggernaut salary when he nearly 30 years old and mortgage the future on him.

We’ve giving him enough time, money and chances to be the man but he can only take us so far. Move on.

We shouldn’t pay good players super star salaries because we used to do stupid sh*t like that in the past and it got us nowhere.

I think we’re starting to see a decline in Siakams performance as he ages, this is why we’re starting to see his lack in defensive effort this year. Historically players entering into their 30’s they tend to regress.

I do not think I agree with this. Siakam picked up basketball very late in his career and his first few years as a professional he did not play huge minutes. His lack of commitment to D is most likely as a result of the uncertainty into his future. Why would you want to kill yourself playing D when you could potentially be off the team

[Mikistan]

Why should we have to be beholden to him? He’s making millions of dollars and can’t play D anymore or perform in the playoffs. But sure, let’s pay a regular season stat stuffer a juggernaut salary when he nearly 30 years old and mortgage the future on him.

We’ve giving him enough time, money and chances to be the man but he can only take us so far. Move on.

We shouldn’t pay good players super star salaries because we used to do stupid sh*t like that in the past and it got us nowhere.

I think we’re starting to see a decline in Siakams performance as he ages, this is why we’re starting to see his lack in defensive effort this year. Historically players entering into their 30’s they tend to regress.

I do not think I agree with this. Siakam picked up basketball very late in his career and his first few years as a professional he did not play huge minutes. His lack of commitment to D is most likely as a result of the uncertainty into his future. Why would you want to kill yourself playing D when you could potentially be off the team

Pride? Drive to win? The millions and millions of dollars being paid?