Pascal Siakam’s agent: I could see him with Pacers for a long time

January 18, 2024

The Indiana Pacers traded for forward Pascal Siakam without any guarantee he’d be around for the long term. Siakam, after all, will be an unrestricted free at the end of the season.

But those around the NBA believe the Pacers made the deal — in which they sent guard Bruce Brown, small forward Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors — with the idea that Siakam wanted to stay.

His agent, Todd Ramasar, seemed to confirm that theory in an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.

“I could see Pascal in Indiana long term,” Ramasar said. “They want to see Pascal with the organization long term. He’s excited. There are a lot of memories up in Toronto, and a lot of good memories. Although things have changed to where he’s been moved, he’s ecstatic about the opportunity ahead of him in Indiana.

“First of all, it’s a first-class organization. When you look at [president] Kevin Pritchard and [general manager] Chad Buchanan, these are basketball guys with an organization that always has had basketball executives from Larry Bird to Donnie Walsh that have been there. Their front office is first class.”

Siakam, 29, is averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists this season, shooting 52 percent from the field and 32 percent on 3-pointers. He is making $37.9 million in the final year of his contract.

Pairing him with the likes of guard Tyrese Haliburton, center Myles Turner and others could help push Indiana to new hoops heights.

“I would say this. The future is bright because it’s a perfect fit,” Ramasar said. “It’s a perfect marriage for Pascal based on some of the things that I touched on. Everything I described about the organization, from ownership to the front office to the coaching staff and to player personnel, is representative of Pascal. There is that through line where everything is about ‘team’ and ‘winning.’ In winning, it’s also about having humility and competitiveness. Those are all the right attributes that you want in an organization down to the individuals that leads to something special in the future.”