Aside from trade rumors revolving around Damian Lillard and James Harden, the NBA world has been patiently waiting to see what will happen with Toronto Raptors All-Star Pascal Siakam. With Fred VanVleet leaving the organization in free agency this offseason, a lot of question marks have surrounded the Raptors and the direction this franchise is heading in.

They have missed the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons after making the playoffs in seven straight seasons prior and Siakam is entering the final year of his contract. As far as a possible contract extension goes, no ground has been made in this department, sources told ClutchPoints recently, and The Athletic's Shams Charania has since echoed the same stance.

In fact, Charania recently broke down where things stand between Siakam and the Raptors, claiming that the Atlanta Hawks have been the top team pursuing Toronto's star. Back on July 4, sources told ClutchPoints that the Hawks had been ramping up their pursuit of Siakam despite the Raptors' lack of interest in trading him.

Talks between the two teams have been ongoing for over a month now with no significant progress being made. However, as Charania reports, Atlanta did make a formal offer to Toronto that included AJ Griffin, De'Andre Hunter, and draft compensation. The exact amount of draft picks offered up was not mentioned and the belief right now is that the Raptors have since increased their asking price for Siakam.

Now through seven seasons in the NBA with the Raptors, Pascal Siakam recently made his second All-Star appearance and is coming off of his best year with the team. Just this past season, he averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, all of which were new career highs, while shooting 48.0 percent from the floor.

Toronto finds itself in a weird spot as a franchise, especially since they recently missed the playoffs and made a coaching change, replacing Nick Nurse with first-time head coach Darko Rajakovic. Moving on from Siakam and bringing back a lot of value could make sense, especially if the team isn't going to offer the All-Star a new extension before he becomes a free agent. Then again, the Raptors believe they can still compete at a high-level in the Eastern Conference, thus them not wanting to go through any type of rebuild.

When looking at what the Hawks have offered, there is definitely clear value that presents itself. Hunter is a 25-year-old forward who can play virtually anywhere on the floor given his defensive instincts and his length. Next to Scottie Barnes, he could be another dynamic, two-way presence for this team that is continuing to grow into a secondary scorer.

As for AJ Griffin, he is coming off of an impressive rookie season in which he averaged 8.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.0 percent from three-point range. The son of recent Raptors assistant and new Milwaukee Bucks head coach, Adrian Griffin, AJ received consideration for this past season's All-Rookie teams and is another young, athletic scoring option.

At this point in the offseason, the Raptors will not be able to maximize the overall value of Pascal Siakam. This is why they are likely to hold onto him heading towards training camp. Through the start of the season and leading up to the trade deadline though, Toronto's star will continue to hear his name pop up in trade rumors across the NBA.