With trade rumors surrounding Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam all offseason, we've finally received news that provides clarity about the rumblings that Spicy P would request a trade. According to SiriusXM NBA Radio Twitter via an interview with Siakam's agent, Todd Ramasar, Siakam will not be requesting any type of movement:

Ramasar gave a well-reasoned response to the rumors:

“I've only had reassurance from the Raptors that Pascal is obviously with them to stay,” Ramasar said. “I think in some ways the Raptors and Siakam were easy targets just based on the season they had, starting with the fact that they weren't even playing in Toronto…”

When using the words “easy targets,” Ramasar is referencing basketball media's common promotion of rumors regarding big-name players whose relationships with a given organization could potentially become, or already are, tumultuous. Siakam had a subpar season relative to his standards in 2021, when he averaged a stellar 21.4 points per game, but saw his 3-point percentage stumble below 30%. He often had stretches of noticeable inconsistency.

Ramasar continued:

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“Pascal didn't have the best season, even going back to the bubble – some in his control and some out of his control. I think we've just become accustomed to, every offseason, seeing player movement…In this scenario, I think it was just Pascal, you know, again, just being mentioned in those trade rumors. He's looking forward to this season and he's recovering from his shoulder surgery…He'll be spending time with [the Raptors] this upcoming week in Los Angeles, so those all in media are just trade rumors, to be honest with you guys.”

Ever since Spicy P's stellar performance in the 2019 NBA Finals, in which he averaged 19.8 points per game in the Raptors' win over the Golden State Warriors, he's had the high expectation of being the team's premier scorer. Hopefully for the Raptors, the upcoming campaign will involve the evolution of Pascal Siakam and his game, particularly as a scorer and leader.