NBA Watch: Raptors signs super Star on new……

Sources tell Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca that although the Raptors and Pascal Siakam haven’t made much progress toward extending the star forward’s deal, the two sides have been having “framework-type conversations” since the beginning of the campaign.

Grange says that because striking a long-term agreement by Saturday would restore Siakam’s trade eligibility at the beginning of free agency in July, the 30th of December had been seen as a crucial milestone in the extension negotiations. On the other hand, Siakam’s new team would be in a better position to sign him to an extension before free agency if a trade was made by December 30.

Grange doesn’t see any urgency, though, regarding a decision on Siakam occurring in the next day or two. Since an extension of more than two years (or featuring a raise greater than 5%) would be prohibited for six months following a trade, Siakam’s new team would have to be pretty confident in its ability to re-sign him as a free agent if the Raptors decide not to extend him by Saturday and then want to move him before the trade deadline.

Here’s more information about the Raptors: Grange states that the team has “no appetite for a reset, teardown, or rebuild” and that their main objective is to figure out how to assemble a winning roster around Scottie Barnes. In an ideal world, Siakam and OG Anunoby would still be a part of the core, but that would require them to find “better and more complementary pieces” to go with the trio of Barnes, Siakam, and Anunoby.

As Eric Koreen of The Athletic reports, head coach Darko Rajakovic emphasized that Barnes is not suddenly Toronto’s starting point guard with Schröder coming off the bench, but he does anticipate an increase in the former Rookie of the Year’s ball-handling duties.”I believe the primary motivation behind this is to expedite his growth,” Rajakovic remarked.”A player who plays a lot of pick-and-roll defense is just forced to make all of those decisions: how to set up his teammates, how to handle pressure, and how to handle various pick-and-roll coverages. I think he have those abilities.