Raptors’ Siakam going to Pacers for 3 picks, Brown and Nwora
NBA
Pascal Siakam is being traded to the Indiana Pacers, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday, ending a run of nearly eight years with the Toronto Raptors during which he was a twotime ALL-NBA selection, two-time All-star and part of the team that won the 2019 NBA title.
Siakam is going to Indiana in exchange for three future first-round draft picks and a pair of players with NBA championship rings — guard Bruce Brown and forward Jordan Nwora — said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade was still pending league approval.
“Pascal is just a pure basketball junkie,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said Wednesday night before his team played the Miami Heat. “He is the first one to show up in the gym, the last one to leave. He was always coachable, always professional since Day 1. ... I can only be thankful and grateful for all of his contributions to our team this season.”
ESPN, which first reported the full terms of the trade, also said the New Orleans Pelicans were involved
“I immediately saw what Kent was talking about,” Kerr said in a video produced by the Warriors last year. “He was so great to be around. At the same time, he had this amazing basketball background both as a player and a coach. It made so much sense for us to bring Deki in.”
Milojevic won three consecutive MVP awards in the Adriatic League, taking those trophies in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when the 6-foot-7, 240-pound power forward was at the peak of his playing career. Jokic was MVP of that league in 2015, a year after current Golden State forward and would send Kira Lewis to Toronto as part of the deal. That move would put the Pelicans in position to get below the luxury tax threshold.
The deal is a huge move for Indiana, the NBA’S highest-scoring team this season. The Pacers entered Wednesday at No. 6 in the Eastern Conference and soon will get to pair Siakam alongside All-star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who currently is out with a hamstring issue.
Siakam, 29, is in the final year of his contract, which pays him nearly $38 million this season, and becomes eligible this summer to sign a five-year
Dario there.
No player has more Adriatic MVPS than Milojevic, and the stories of some games in his youth were legendary. Among them: how he scored 141 points as a 14-year-old in 1991, with 83 of those points coming in the second half after his coach ordered he take all the shots.
“I teach all my players that basketball is not a job, but that they should enjoy the game,” Milojevic told Bosnian radio-television outlet RTV in a 2018 interview. “Because if you want to do something for the next 20 years, then you
Saric was MVP deal that could be worth as much as $247 million. The Pacers are expected to at least consider giving Siakam such a deal.
Siakam was averaging 22.2 points this season, and he has averaged 17.4 points and 6.5 rebounds in his career. He was an Allstar in 2020 and 2023 and was the last starter from Toronto’s title team still with the franchise.
Brown will be joining his fifth different team once he arrives in Toronto, after stints with Detroit, Brooklyn, Denver and the Pacers. He was averaging a career-best 12.1 points this season, his sixth in the NBA. have to love it a lot. It’s not easy to endure all these efforts if you don’t like something. Only those who have a sincere love for the game can handle everything with great success.”
Before joining the Warriors, Milojevic had NBA experience through Summer League assistantcoach stints with Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston.
A rescheduled date for the Warriors-jazz game was not immediately announced. Milojevic is survived by his wife, Natasa, and their children, Nikola and Masa.
“Their loss is unfathomable,” Kerr said.