Current:Home > BackPacers, Pascal Siakam to agree to 4-year max contract, per report-LoTradeCoin
Pacers, Pascal Siakam to agree to 4-year max contract, per report
View Date:2024-12-23 20:34:12
INDIANAPOLIS — All-Star forward Pascal Siakam will sign a four-year, $189.5 million contract extension with the Indiana Pacers when free agency moratorium ends July 6, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal will tie Siakam with the Pacers until he's 34; the team could have given him a five-year contract for approximately $245 million.
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan made the offer to Siakam on Tuesday, according to ESPN. This is the first year teams are allowed to begin negotiations with their own free agents after the NBA Finals.
The Pacers acquired the 6-8, 230-pound Siakam from the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 17 for guard Bruce Brown, forward Jordan Nwora and three first-round draft picks – two in 2024 and one in 2026. In 41 regular-season games, exactly half a season, the 30-year-old Siakam led the Pacers in scoring with 21.3 points per game, shooting 54.9% from the field and 38.6% from 3-point range. He also grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game and dished out 3.7 assists. The Pacers went 23-18 in his 41 games and finished 47-35 overall to grab the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, returning to postseason play for the first time since 2020.
Siakam's experience as a member of the Raptors' 2018-19 NBA championship team paid off in the playoffs as the young Pacers frequently looked to him to settle the group, especially early in their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored 36 points in Game 1 of that series and 37 in Game 2 on his way to leading the Pacers with 21.6 points per game on 54.1% shooting. He also led Indiana with 7.5 rebounds per game in the playoffs and dished out 3.8 assists, helping them reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2014.
All things Pacers: Latest Indiana Pacers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
In 7 ½ seasons with the Raptors prior to the trade, Siakam was twice named an All-Star and twice named to one of the three All-NBA teams, earning second-team honors in 2019-20 and third-team honors in 2021-22. The native of Cameroon and former New Mexico State star was taken No. 27 overall in the 2016 draft. After averaging 4.2 points per game as a rookie and 7.3 per game in his second year in the league, he averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on the 2018-19 title team to earn the NBA's Most Improved Player award. After the departure of 2019 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Siakam became the focal point of the Raptors offense and he averaged at least 21 points per game in each of his last four full seasons and he was averaging 22.2 per game last season when he was traded. Siakam left as the franchise's fifth all-time leading scorer with 8,875 points, surpassed only by DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Chris Bosh and Vince Carter. For his career, he's averaging 17.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Siakam was the only member of the Pacers' playoff starting five who was not locked up for 2024-25 season. Reserve forward Obi Toppin, a key piece of the Pacers' bench is scheduled to be a restricted free agent. Veterans Doug McDermott and James Johnson are set to be unrestricted free agents. Center Jalen Smith also has a player option he has not yet exercised.
veryGood! (5872)
Related
- Michael Grimm, former House member convicted of tax fraud, is paralyzed in fall from horse
- Novelist Tim Dorsey, who mixed comedy and murder in his Serge A. Storms stories, dies at 62
- New Zealand leader plans to ban cellphone use in schools and end tobacco controls in first 100 days
- How to Watch NBC's 2023 Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
- The state that cleared the way for sports gambling now may ban ‘prop’ bets on college athletes
- Michigan man says he'll live debt-free after winning $1 million Mega Millions prize
- A mom chose an off-the-grid school for safety from COVID. No one protected her kid from the teacher
- Patrick Kane signs with the Detroit Red Wings for the rest of the NHL season
- A Pipeline Runs Through It
- More than a decade after launching, #GivingTuesday has become a year-round movement
Ranking
- PSA: Coach Outlet Has Stocking Stuffers, Gifts Under $100 & More for the Holidays RN (up to 60% Off)
- Trump embraces the Jan. 6 rioters on the trail. In court, his lawyers hope to distance him from them
- 41 men rescued from India tunnel by rat miners 17 days after partial collapse
- The Excerpt podcast: Israel-Hamas truce extended through Wednesday
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- What we know as NBA looks into Josh Giddey situation
- Illinois man wins $25K a year for life from lottery ticket after clerk's lucky mistake
- The Essentials: As Usher lights up the Las Vegas strip, here are his must-haves
Recommendation
-
2 striking teacher unions in Massachusetts face growing fines for refusing to return to classroom
-
iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy Details Past Pregnancy Scare
-
Young man gets life sentence for Canada massage parlor murder that court declared act of terrorism
-
This 3-year cruise around the world is called off, leaving passengers in the lurch
-
New wildfires burn in US Northeast while bigger blazes rage out West
-
Dakota Johnson Shares How Chris Martin Helps Her When She’s Struggling
-
Taylor Swift is Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2023, ending Bad Bunny’s 3-year reign
-
Surge in respiratory illnesses among children in China swamping hospitals