Grade the Trade: Kings land Raptors forward in blockbuster proposal
Grade the Trade: Do the Kings say yes?
Pascal Siakam would be an intriguing fit for the Sacramento Kings. His playmaking on offense would complement Domantas Sabonis and his drive in transition as a grab-and-go forward would only further strengthen the Kings' devastating transition attack. Defensively he has size and strength and has a track record of defending at a high level; the Kings can reasonably hope a smaller role helps him to devote more energy on that end.
The cost is not punitive, either. Harrison Barnes is a solid player who has been starting for them, but he isn't irreplaceable and Siakam would be an upgrade in every way but as a shooter. Kevin Huerter would hurt more, but he has been in a season-long slump shooting just 35.2 percent from deep and was recently moved to the bench. Mitchell has been out of the rotation on many nights this season.
The risk with the deal is twofold. First, Siakam is not a good shooter; he's a career 32.4 percent from deep and hitting just 28.5 percent this season. If Sabonis was comfortable stroking it from deep on a high volume that wouldn't be as big of an issue, but together neither is truly a floor-spacer. What Siakam can do is drive and attack closeouts, and added to his dribble-handoff game could still punish teams for not defending him on the perimeter. But he's not spacing the court.
Secondly, Siakam is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Can the Kings get some sort of indication from Siakam and his camp that he would re-sign in Sacramento, or at least be open to it? This would be a lot to give up for one playoff run with Siakam and then a tearful goodbye. The Kings don't exactly have a spotless track record of stars choosing to be there in free agency.
If the Kings look at the wide-open Western Conference and think they're in a position to make a move, trading for Siakam isn't a bad one to make. It maintains plenty of flexibility to make another move down the road, it keeps their three-best players intact, and it gives them a title-winning forward who can still produce at a high level. If they can get any confidence from Siakam's agent that he might stick around, this could be a deal worth making.
Grade: B+