According to sources who spoke with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday, the Indiana Pacers have acquired All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round selections.
The Pacers received Kira Lewis Jr. and a 2024 second-round selection from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of an unrelated transaction, it was revealed. After that, sources informed ESPN, the Pacers traded Lewis to the Raptors.
According to reports, the Raptors will get three first-round selections in the future; the first two are for 2024 and come from Indiana, and the third is for 2026 and comes from either Utah, Houston, LA Clippers, or Oklahoma City.
Siakam is averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists this season. He has played in the NBA for all eight of his seasons with Toronto. According to sources who spoke to ESPN, he is thrilled with the arrangement and will likely be ready to work out a new contract with the team this summer.
July will see Siakam, 29, become a free agent. This season, he is earning close to $38 million.
“I’m excited that Pascal is getting a first-class opportunity with the Pacers, being paired with Tyrese [Haliburton] and Myles [Turner] and being coached by a great coach in Rick Carlisle,” Todd Ramasar, Siakam’s agent, told And
“His future looks bright there.”
The NBA’s highest-scoring club this season is the Pacers, who are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference. Siakam is leaving Toronto, which leads the league in fast-break points scored per game, to Indiana, which is ranked second.
This season, the Pacers will play the Raptors three more times, two of those games being in Toronto. On Valentine’s Day, they will meet again in Toronto.
Throughout his career, Siakam has averaged 17.4 points and 6.5 rebounds. He was selected as an All-Star in both 2020 and 2023. In 2019, he and the Raptors won an NBA title. He has been selected twice for the All-NBA team.
James Johnson, a seasoned forward who had played in five games since joining in mid-December, was also dismissed by the Pacers on Wednesday.
After stints with the Pacers, Nuggets, and Nets over the previous three seasons, Brown, 27, will be playing for his fourth franchise. This season, he is averaging a career-high 12.1 points.
The 25-year-old Nwora scores 5.2 points per contest.
Lewis spent portions of four seasons with the Pelicans, making 118 appearances in backup roles. This season, he averaged 2.9 points. The Pelicans will be able to lower their luxury tax liability by relocating Lewis.
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