Siakam 4 year max deal

[scottwedman]

Outrageous.

[gouki88]

Really interested to see how he goes without Kawhi on the team. Maybe he's able to cement himself as a legitimate All-Star, or maybe he'll flounder under the pressure of being a #1 option.

Will be interesting. But there was no way that the Raps could let him go.

[Somebody]

Fair deal.

[SparzWizard]

I would kill to have Pascal Siakam on this team.

[mr. dee]

More reason to keep Brown. And he's 3 years younger.

[Who]

I would kill to have Pascal Siakam on this team.

Siakam would be fantastic here. Finally a star player who doesn't define himself by how many shot attempts he gets every night. Exactly what this Celtics team needs.

[Big333223]

4 years, $130 mil.

That's over 30 mil for a guy who has never scored 17 ppg in a season.

I'm not saying he does or doesn't deserve it. I haven't seen enough of him and, from what I understand, he's an incredible defender who can score in a variety of ways. And maybe he's not done developing.

But man... That's a lot of money.

Jaylen Brown wants the max and he hasn't even averaged 15 points per game in his 3 seasons with the Celts.

I'm sure he wants it that doesn't mean he's going to get it.

EDIT: Now I'm seeing reports that maybe he will. lol. What do I know?

[liam]

4 years, $130 mil.

That's over 30 mil for a guy who has never scored 17 ppg in a season.

I'm not saying he does or doesn't deserve it. I haven't seen enough of him and, from what I understand, he's an incredible defender who can score in a variety of ways. And maybe he's not done developing.

But man... That's a lot of money.

I agree that it seems like an overpay. Who was Toronto bidding against?

[jambr380]

4 years, $130 mil.

That's over 30 mil for a guy who has never scored 17 ppg in a season.

I'm not saying he does or doesn't deserve it. I haven't seen enough of him and, from what I understand, he's an incredible defender who can score in a variety of ways. And maybe he's not done developing.

But man... That's a lot of money.

I agree that it seems like an overpay. Who was Toronto bidding against?

Siakam's stock is at an all-time high as he was the 2nd best player on a championship team. We were afraid of teams lining up to pay Jaylen the max next summer (and we are apparently about to pay him $120M) and Siakam is considered a much better player than Jaylen. I think there are a number of teams who would love to pay Siakam the max. Now he needs to continue playing as he did last year to back up that contract.

[Valid]

4 years, $130 mil.

That's over 30 mil for a guy who has never scored 17 ppg in a season.

I'm not saying he does or doesn't deserve it. I haven't seen enough of him and, from what I understand, he's an incredible defender who can score in a variety of ways. And maybe he's not done developing.

But man... That's a lot of money.

You're placing way too much value on points per game.

Al Horford averages 14.1 points per game for his career, and he was worth every penny of the nearly $30 million a year he made with the Celtics.

I'm not saying Siakam is worth $30 million annually, but using points per game as the basis of your argument to say he's not is faulty. He does more than just score points.

The fact of the matter is the dude is a really good young player who is an efficient scorer and a terrific defender who also just played incredibly well on the NBA's biggest stage.

[SHAQATTACK]

I think he would have been hard to keep on the team without a max myself.   Players that valuable don't show up in Toronto every year. And less sem to,want to stay on those far North teams.   Kinda the same boat Timberwolfs are in very year.   

Those non CA teams have to pay to get people to,stay .    I expect several teams might pay well over 80 million for Brown , no matter what this blog thinks .  He could get 100 plus easy .

[Muzzy66]

Just insane! Maybe I'm missing the boat on this guy but I'm not seeing what everyone else is.

I'm with you on this - nice player, but not nearly as good as people are hyping him up to be.  I don't think he's worth any more then about $20M a year.  Still, not surprised that Toronto would offer it, as they are in a pretty desperate spot right now and dont think they can afford to really lose him.

[Muzzy66]

He was the second leading scorer on a 58 win team that won the NBA championship in his 3rd year in the league.  He has excellent range and is a very efficient shooter.  He is a credible rebounder, passer, and defender.  He has taken massive leaps each season.  He looks even better this preseason.

And he was a huge reason Toronto was able to get the #2 seed despite Kawhi missing 20+ regular season games. They were actually in the fight for the #1 seed right until the end of the season.

People will try to belittle his talent, but the dude is good player - on both ends of the court. He's noticeably improved every year he's been in the league.

Yeah, I agree - he is a "good" player.  I just don't think "good" players aren't worth max contracts.  Same reason I don't think Jaylen Brown is worth a $30M/year extension.   

I also think that he has pretty limited upside.  The guy was already 22 when he entered the league.  He may have only been in the league three years, but he's already 25 years old - meaning he has maybe one or two years of growth at best. 

He has already taken a big leap as a shooter - he went from downright terrible (14% / 22% from three his first two years) to well above average (37%) his third year.  Is that all growth, or did he just have a lucky good year?  He shot only 28% from three in the playoffs, which is more in line with his historically mediocre shooting ability.

His rebounding is actually pretty mediocre - 7.8 rebounds per 36 is decidedly unspectacular for a 6'9" PF with his length and athleticism.  And he's averaged exactly that for 3 years running now.  It's not much above what Tatum has averaged, and most don't even consider Tatum a legit PF. 

His free throw rate has been absolutely anemic prior to last season (15% and 18%) - it was better last year (32%) but also dropped off in the playoffs (22%) - so again it leaves me wondering how much of that is a fluke. 

His defense is very good and he's a great energy guy, but i just don't see all the potential other people rave about.  Looking at his first 3 seasons in the league, his emergence last season came very much out of nowhere and I'm not convinced that it wasn't just a fluke good year feeding off the success Kawhi brought across.  But even at his best last year, I don't believe he was a max contract player. 

[keevsnick]

He was the second leading scorer on a 58 win team that won the NBA championship in his 3rd year in the league.  He has excellent range and is a very efficient shooter.  He is a credible rebounder, passer, and defender.  He has taken massive leaps each season.  He looks even better this preseason.

And he was a huge reason Toronto was able to get the #2 seed despite Kawhi missing 20+ regular season games. They were actually in the fight for the #1 seed right until the end of the season.

People will try to belittle his talent, but the dude is good player - on both ends of the court. He's noticeably improved every year he's been in the league.

Yeah, I agree - he is a "good" player.  I just don't think "good" players aren't worth max contracts.  Same reason I don't think Jaylen Brown is worth a $30M/year extension.   

I also think that he has pretty limited upside.  The guy was already 22 when he entered the league.  He may have only been in the league three years, but he's already 25 years old - meaning he has maybe one or two years of growth at best. 

He has already taken a big leap as a shooter - he went from downright terrible (14% / 22% from three his first two years) to well above average (37%) his third year.  Is that all growth, or did he just have a lucky good year?  He shot only 28% from three in the playoffs, which is more in line with his historically mediocre shooting ability.

His rebounding is actually pretty mediocre - 7.8 rebounds per 36 is decidedly unspectacular for a 6'9" PF with his length and athleticism.  And he's averaged exactly that for 3 years running now.  It's not much above what Tatum has averaged, and most don't even consider Tatum a legit PF. 

His free throw rate has been absolutely anemic prior to last season (15% and 18%) - it was better last year (32%) but also dropped off in the playoffs (22%) - so again it leaves me wondering how much of that is a fluke. 

His defense is very good and he's a great energy guy, but i just don't see all the potential other people rave about.  Looking at his first 3 seasons in the league, his emergence last season came very much out of nowhere and I'm not convinced that it wasn't just a fluke good year feeding off the success Kawhi brought across.  But even at his best last year, I don't believe he was a max contract player.

I get all this but I think people just need to accept that this is kind of the going rate for youngish guys who have shown something and have possible untapped potential. Like you can make  similar argument with Jamaal Murray, what he's actually produced isnt that much more than Jaylen when taking into their complete games and yet he's getting a max. So Siakim isnt an isolated incident.

[Moranis]

Off to an excellent start.  34/18/5 though did foul out as the game is in OT.