Exclusive: Pascal Siakam speaks after Kings top Raptors with trade rumors swirling in Sacramento

There were a few twists and turns in the on-again, off-again trade talks surrounding Pascal Siakam as the Kings prepared to face the Toronto Raptors on Friday in Sacramento.

The Kings have been linked to Siakam in the past, but the speculation and intrigue intensified as the Raptors arrived in Sacramento with four weeks remaining before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. Siakam seemed unfazed by the swirling trade rumors, saying he was unaware of the day’s developments.

“I don’t really pay attention to anything,” Siakam told The Sacramento Bee while sitting at his locker late Friday night. “I have people who work on that stuff. I play basketball. I’m a basketball player and that’s all I try to focus on.”

Siakam said he was impressed with the team Kings general manager Monte McNair has assembled after Domantas Sabonis recorded another triple-double to lead Sacramento to a 135-130 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,941 at Golden 1 Center. Sabonis finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, posting his eighth triple-double of the season and his sixth in the past 10 games.

De’Aaron Fox also scored 24 points for the Kings (21-13). Keegan Murray had his second consecutive double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Harrison Barnes scored 16 points while Malik Monk came off the bench to post 15 points and nine assists.

The Kings shot 52% from the field and made 21 of 38 (.553) from 3-point range.

“It’s a good team,” Siakam said. “They’re playing well, good basketball, fast paced. They have a lot of shooters. They’re a really fast team and they’ve got Sabonis playing well. Obviously, he’s the quarterback for them, but also Fox, Murray, Barnes, Malik coming off the bench. All those guys play well. They have a good team, and I think with teams like that, it’s tough. With their pace, you’ve got to continue to be on point, and tonight they made a lot of shots.”

Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley scored 20 points apiece to lead eight players in double figures for the Raptors (14-21). Siakam had 18 points, four rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one blocked shot.

Sacramento was buzzing with anticipation all day. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Raptors were ramping up trade talks and the Kings were “emerging as a serious suitor” for Siakam. That followed a report from Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who also identified Sacramento as one of the most likely suitors for Siakam, noting the Kings were making Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter and Davion Mitchell available in trade talks.

Kings coach Mike Brown was asked before the game how he keeps his players focused with trade rumors swirling around them.

“Everybody’s human, so everybody feels it in some way, shape or form,” Brown said. “You can talk about it as much as you want or as little as you want, but at the end of the day, rumors and speculation are rampant as the trade deadlines nears every year for every team. It’s part of our business. You’ve just got to deal with it and keep moving forward as best you can.”

Siakam, 29, is a 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward. He’s a two-time All-Star and All-NBA selection and a multi-positional defender who averages 22.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

“He’s long. He’s athletic. He’s a two-way guy who gives teams fits because he hits the glass, he gets out and runs, and finishes in transition,” Brown said. “He can go get a bucket in an iso situation and he’s a willing passer, so when you have those different types of combinations for a guy who’s done it at a high level, it bodes well for the Raptors because they can attack you in a lot of different ways.”

Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster were in Sacramento for Friday’s game. Webster declined to answer questions after the game. Ujiri was on the floor exchanging pleasantries with members of the Kings organization while Siakam was finishing his pregame warmups when Charania provided an update to his earlier report.

Charania tweeted: “The Sacramento Kings are deciding to pull out of the Pascal Siakam talks, sources say. Things can be fluid, but Kings-Raptors talks are now over.”

Siakam said he didn’t get those notifications.

“I don’t know anything, to be honest,” Siakam said. “I just came in today, obviously, we had a couple of good wins, so I just wanted to continue to build on that, and obviously it was a tough loss. We’ve just got to continue to build and continue to get back up and keep working.”

The pursuit of Siakam will be complicated by his contract status. Now in the final year of a four-year, $137 million deal, Siakam will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. His value on the trade market could depend on his willingness to re-sign with the team that acquires him.

Asked what he wants for his future, Siakam said: “I’m here. I don’t really think about that. I try to take it day by day, to be honest. I can’t control a lot of things, so I just continue to play basketball and come in every day and get better.”

After all that, the Kings and Raptors still had a game to play. Sacramento led 36-27 after outscoring Toronto 12-2 on second-chance points in the first quarter. The Kings were clinging to a 57-53 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half when Monk scored to ignite a 20-4 run that put Sacramento up 77-57 at the break.

The Kings equaled their season-high for points in a half. They shot 55.6% from the field and went 14 of 26 (.538) from 3-point range while amassing a 28-19 rebounding advantage.

Sacramento went up by as many as 23 points in the third quarter before Toronto came back to make it a 10-point game heading into the fourth. The Raptors got within five on a basket by Chris Boucher with 4:33 remaining and cut the deficit to two on a 3-pointer by Quickley with 2:38 to play. The Raptors had a chance to tie the game late, but Quickley missed a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Murray’s rebounding

Murray has made a leap as an effective wing defender this season and now he’s trying to become a stronger rebounder.

“Obviously, Domas averages, what, 13 rebounds a game?” Murray said. “So there’s not many to go around, but just trying to be as aggressive towards the glass as possible whether I come up with it or don’t let someone else get it.”

Brown likes what he has seen from the second-year forward from Iowa.

“Keegan’s obviously worked on his body and he’s a lot stronger now than what he was last year, and he’s starting to understand the league and understand how physical he needs to be to be able to rebound in traffic,” Brown said. “So, for him to get 12 rebounds, obviously, is a big night, but he can get eight, nine, sometimes 10 rebounds on average, in my opinion, per night. Just because of how hard he goes to the glass, how strong he is now and his continued growth and understanding of what the league is about.”

Waiving JTA

A league source told The Sacramento Bee the Kings are planning to waive forward Juan Toscano-Anderson. That will leave the Kings with 14 players, opening up a roster spot. Toscano-Anderson appeared in eight games for the Kings after signing with Sacramento in December, averaging 0.3 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 2.4 minutes per contest.

Up next

The Kings will conclude a four-game homestand when they play host to the New Orleans Pelicans at 3 p.m. Sunday at Golden 1 Center.

The Pelicans (21-15) have been a problem for the Kings. The Kings are 0-3 against the Pelicans this season. They suffered a 129-93 loss Nov. 20 in New Orleans, a 117-112 loss Nov. 22 in New Orleans and a 127-117 loss Dec. 4 in Sacramento. The Kings and Pelicans will meet for a fifth time April 11 in Sacramento.

The Pelican had a four-game winning streak before suffering a 111-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Zion Williamson left the game with a right leg contusion. He is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Jose Alvarado has been ruled out due to a non-COVID illness.

Upcoming schedule

Jan. 7 vs. New Orleans Pelicans

Jan. 9 at Detroit Pistons

Jan. 10 at Charlotte Hornets

Jan. 12 at Philadelphia 76ers

Jan. 14 at Milwaukee Bucks