Insider: Why the Pacers trading for Pascal Siakam for 3 months makes sense

SACRAMENTO, Calif -- Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said last year that he was "itching" to make a big trade deal with all of the draft capital, cap space and young talent he had and that he felt the timeline had been accelerated with the swift rise of point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

On Wednesday, he made a trade that will re-shape the NBA landscape heading into the trade deadline, acquiring the biggest name on the market and a player who directly fills the Pacers most important needs. The Pacers acquired two-time All-NBA power forward Pascal Siakam from the Raptors in exchange for guard Bruce Brown Jr., forward Jordan Nwora and three first-round draft picks -- two in the 2024 draft and one in 2026. ESPN and The Athletic first reported the trade. The 2026 pick is top 4 protected, according to The Athletic. The New Orleans Pelicans gave the Raptors guard Kira Lewis, keeping the Pacers from having to give up another current player.

Pacers news: Pacers acquiring All-Star Pascal Siakam for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and picks

It's a move that signals that the Pacers are serious about their intentions to be a contender now. They are already in playoff position at 23-17, tied with the Knicks for sixth-place in the Eastern Conference and just a game behind Cleveland and Miami with the Cavaliers holding a percentage-point lead on the Heat for fourth. Along with the Magic, who are just a game behind Indiana and New York, the Pacers are part of a clearly-defined second tier in the East as the season hits its half-way point. This was the sort of move they had to make to try to make a leap into the first tier.

As ahead of schedule as the Pacers' rebuild was, they clearly needed a second star-caliber player to contend for an Eastern Conference title with all the star power at the top of the conference. The first-place Celtics start four All-Stars in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. The Bucks paired seven-time All-NBA guard Damian Lillard with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, and the 76ers have the reigning MVP in Joel Embiid as well as a blossoming young point guard in Tyrese Maxey.

The Pacers have one of the deepest teams in the league, an anchor of a center in Myles Turner and a talented wing who has a chance to be an All-Star in Bennedict Mathurin. However it's been clear in Haliburton's absence this week due to a strained left hamstring that they lack a go-to scorer beyond him. They have shown excellent balance. In each of the the three games prior to their blowout loss to Utah on Monday, the Pacers had at least seven players score in double figures, but no one scored 20 points in any of those games.

Siakam, meanwhile, is averaging 22.2 points per game this season and has averaged at least 21 points in each of his previous four seasons, with 24.2 per game last year.

Siakam is listed at 6-8, 230 pounds but he plays bigger than that with a 7-foot-3 wingspan. However, he also has remarkable perimeter skill for his size. He can get to the rim off the bounce from the perimeter, post up smaller players, shoot 3s and mid-range jump shots and also create for others. He's shooting 52.2% from the field this year and 49.1% for his career. As 3-point shooter he's less consistent, making 32.7% of his career attempts, but he has 527 career 3-pointers and made 36.9% of his attempts in 2018-19 when he helped the Raptors to their first NBA title. He's also a willing passer, averaging 4.9 assists per game this season after posting 5.8 per game last year.

Defensively, he gives the Pacers what they desperately need -- a power forward with length who can can guard other power forwards like him. The Pacers have found it nearly impossible to contain big wings such as Antetokounmpo, Tatum, LeBron James, Karl Anthony Towns, Paolo Banchero and Lauri Markkanen. Siakam gives them a defensive answer for such matchups. Defense has been a sore spot for the Pacers all season, but it's been better since they made a lineup change to get more size in the starting lineup and Siakam should make them dramatically better.

The Pacers managed to make the deal without giving up any of their most prized young assets. It was reported that the Raptors were very interested in the Pacers' lottery picks over the last two seasons, Mathurin and forward Jarace Walker. The Pacers managed to hold on to both. Brown is a significant loss, as the offseason free agent signee was mostly the Swiss Army Knife he was advertised to be, averaging 12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists as a starting shooting guard, secondary ball-handler and top defender. However, the Pacers had paid an extremely high price to get him at two years, $45 million with a team option for the second year. WIth Haliburton's five-year contract extension set to kick in next season, it wasn't a certainty that the Pacers were going to pick up the option, so they may have dealt a player they were already expecting to lose.

They also have a player on the roster who can do a lot of what Brown does. Andrew Nembhard is a point guard by trade, but he started most of last season as a shooting guard. He can operate as a secondary ball-handler and he can also take on tough defensive assignments. Having two such players certainly isn't overkill, and the Pacers will especially miss Brown until Haliburton returns. Nembhard, who just turned 24 this week, hasn't been as consistent offensively as Brown has been and he will start at point guard until Haliburton returns, but he will be taking on assignments he's used to once Haliburton returns.

Nwora averaged 13.0 points per game last season after he was acquired from the Bucks, but his action was limited this season as he appeared in just 18 games, mostly in clean-up work. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle repeatedly pointed out that he is still a talented scorer, but that he simply didn't have a path to playing time with forwards Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith in front of him. Moving Nwora could give him another opportunity to get on the floor. The draft picks might not be that difficult to part with. It's certainly hard to say what shape the Pacers will be in in 2026, and this season, their first-rounders might not be high-quality picks. At 23-17 and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers would pick 17th if the draft were held today, but adding Siakam allows them to move up in the standings and down in the draft. The second pick would be the least favorable of the picks from the Thunder, Jazz, Rockets and Clippers. All four of those teams are in playoff position and the Thunder and Clippers are in the top four of the West, so it's likely that pick could be one of the last five in the first round.

The biggest risk to acquiring Siakam is his expiring contract worth $37.9 million this season. Siakam indicated while trade talks were going on that he wanted to test free agency and wouldn't re-sign with any team that traded for him. However, the Pacers have cap room to spend and have confidence that time with Haliburton will make Indiana an attractive situation for him. They inherit Siakam's Bird Rights, which means they can go above the salary cap to re-sign him and can sign him to a five-year deal while anyone else who would sign him would only be able to sign him to a four-year deal. If they are willing to give him the maximum amount of money and max out on those years, they would have a built-in advantage on the rest of the league in contract negotiations.

Siakam indicated through his agent that he's pleased with the deal, so there's a good chance the Pacers have not only brought in a top player for the rest of this season, but for years to come.

Siakam's agent Todd Ramasar spoke with numerous media members about the trade and appeared on the Raptors Show on the Canadian channel SportsNet. He indicated that Siakam is pleased to be joining the Pacers for a number of reasons.

"They have a young budding superstar in Tyrese," Ramasar said. "They have Myles Turner who has been there for some time and they have a Hall-of-Fame coach in addition to some of their other young talent there and it's a first-class organization in terms of front office to ownership. ... When you look at their style of play and potentially what's been missing for a team that's been having a lot of success in the Eastern Conference and the league as a whole, Pascal fits or complements their roster as best as any player they could add to their roster right now."

At practice Wednesday in Sacramento, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle declined to comment on the trade as it was not yet official and doing so would run the risk of a fine from the league. However, he was asked generally how the Pacers have made themselves an attractive destination for players, whether they are acquired via trade in free agency. He pointed to several acquisitions over the last two seasons in which the players the Pacers acquired benefitted.

Obviously, Haliburton -- who was acquired in February, 2022 in a trade with the Kings -- improved his situation by becoming the focal point of the franchise rather than sharing that status with fellow point guard De'Aaron Fox. Veteran guard Buddy Hield has been served well by sticking with Haliburton, though he's seen his minutes cut this season. Last year he set a Pacers franchise record with 288 3-pointers, his career high for a single season. Forwards Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith have seen their production increase dramatically since they were acquired from the Celtics and Suns respectively. Nesmith, who is averaging 11.8 points per game and was also a starter last season, has had a much bigger role after being stuck behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as the starting wings in Boston.

Brown not only cashed in with the Pacers after winning a title with the Nuggets last year, he was also averaging a career-high 12.1 points per game since the deal. Power forward Obi Toppin, acquired the day after Brown signed in a trade with the Knicks, is averaging 23.6 minutes and 11.6 points per game, well beyond his career highs in three seasons in New York.

"If you look around at our roster and see guys who have been acquired in the last year and a half, virtually every one of them has had a career-year situation," Carlisle said. "Coming to the Pacers, playing with the Indiana Pacers, playing with Tyrese Haliburton and two other point guards that make guys better. Any player that comes to the Pacers will have an opportunity for a life-changing and a career-changing situation."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pascal Siakam trade gives Pacers everything they were looking for