Recently, the Indiana Pacers sent shockwaves throughout the NBA world when it was announced that they would be trading for Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors. Indiana has been one of the most surprising stories throughout the first half of the NBA season, led by dynamic point guard Tyrese Haliburton; however, most pundits viewed the team as being a piece or two away from real contention, and Siakam may well be that missing ingredient.
Now, more light is being shed on what exactly the Pacers' thought process was in making the move for Siakam, including their consideration of other talented power forwards across the league.
“The Pacers in prior weeks — before they were sure Siakam would be available — were one of several teams to call Utah about [Lauri] Markkanen, sources said,” reported Zach Lowe of ESPN. “The Jazz in those brief talks showed zero interest in moving Markkanen, sources said.”
While they may have missed out on Lauri Markkanen, the Pacers are still surely happy to have a Swiss army knife like Pascal Siakam playing for their team now. Siakam automatically becomes Indiana's most versatile defender, an area of the game where the Pacers have struggled mightily so far this year.
The talented forward also gives Tyrese Haliburton another scoring option that could potentially take some of the load off of the point guard come playoff time, when opposing teams are sure to throw more traps and other coverages at him than he's been seeing in the regular season.
The Pacers next take the floor against the Portland Trail Blazers.
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