ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced on Wednesday afternoon his Twitter page of breaking news that the Milwaukee Bucks rival, the Indiana Pacers have acquired Pascal Siakam in a three-team from the Toronto Raptors. The other team that is involved in the deal is the New Orleans Pelicans. Also, the picks will be two first-round picks in 2024 to Toronto from Indiana and another pick in the first round in 2026. New Orleans sends a second-round pick to Indiana, according to his sources.
Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks are being traded to Toronto. Kira Lewis from the Pelicans is also being traded to Toronto. This is a huge move for Indiana to land Pascal Siakam because it goes to show that they compete with the elite teams in the Eastern Conference like the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Indiana is currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 23-17 record. Toronto is currently 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 15-25 record. The Raptors proved they are sellers as they traded away OG Anounby earlier this month to the New York Knicks.
Siakam was a member of the 2019 championship team with Kawhi Leonard and Nick Nurse. Now, Pascal Siakam will look to chase another title with head coach Rick Carlise, Myles Turner, Tyrese Haliburton, and others. Siakam this season has played in 39 games this season with the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 22.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.9 APG, 0.3 BPG, and 0.8 SPG.
Before Landing Pascal Siakam, the Indiana Pacers Already Have Beaten the Milwaukee Bucks Four Times Out of Five This Season
Even before the Pacers landed Siakam in a three-team trade with Toronto and New Orleans, Indiana already had beaten the Milwaukee Bucks four out of five times this season, including in the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals. The Bucks are currently the number two seed in the Eastern Conference with a 28-12 record.
Could there be a chance Indiana and Milwaukee meet in the NBA playoffs? Who knows, but it could get even more spiceier with the Pacers landing Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors. Indiana is all in with this trade. They are just not trying to win a playoff series. The Indiana Pacers are going to try and show they can knock off the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Joel Embiid when playoff time rolls around.
Indiana and Milwaukee have the top two scoring offenses in the NBA this season. Milwaukee is ranked 24th on defense and Indiana is ranked 28th on defense. The Pacers are even more dangerous on offense with the addition of Pascal Siakam and the duo of him and Tyrese Haliburton will be worth watching. Those two versus Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in a playoff series would be points galore. All in all, with the trade, Indiana are huge winners here, this doesn’t affect New Orleans by any means, and Toronto is rebuilding.
