Could the Pistons outbid the Pacers in a trade for a star?
The Detroit Pistons haven’t made the big offseason splash that some were hoping for, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming.
There are still at least three big names potentially on the trade market in Damian Lillard, James Harden and Pascal Siakam, and the Pistons could end up getting involved in one of these deals as a third or fourth team.
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Of course, they could try to land one of the stars themselves, though of the three, only Siakam really makes sense.
But he makes a whole lot of sense, as a 29-year-old power forward who is one of the best in the league at his position. Detroit still doesn’t have a surefire starting caliber power forward on the roster (depending on how you view Isaiah Stewart) and on paper, Siakam would be the perfect fit.
But if the Pistons are going to make a move for him, they are going to have competition.
Could the Pistons outbid the Pacers for Pascal Siakam?
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Indiana Pacers are one of the teams that is inquiring about Siakam and may be the frontrunners to land him if the Raptors do decide to trade their All-Star.
The Pacers are probably a year or two ahead of the Pistons in terms of their rebuild (mostly thanks to the miss on Haliburton) and Siakam would fit perfectly with the team they currently have assembled. Of course, they just drafted Jarace Walker, which may have cooled their interest some, but this does seem like a Pacers team that is on the cusp and could be a contender with the right addition.
There are some issues when it comes to trading for Siakam, as he has indicated that he wants to re-sign with Toronto so that he can maximize his earnings. But as we’ve seen far too often (most recently with Lillard), players can quickly change their minds and demand out even after signing a super-max extension.
This is probably Siakam’s last chance at a mega deal, so he’s smart to want to squeeze out every penny he can.
But let’s say for a moment that the Raptors did want to move him, and that Siakam was open to it, would the Detroit Pistons even have the assets to do it?