Pascal Siakam is fully focused on the start of the 2021-22 season. The Cameroonian player was the focus of a large number of transfer rumors during the summer months although his future will continue to be tied, at least for the moment, to the city of Toronto.
As soon as the continuity of Masai Ujiri as the main head of the offices was confirmed, the Raptors confirmed to Siakam their desire to continue counting on him, while, in turn, he transferred his entire commitment to the team.
In recent statements to The New York Times, Siakam himself spoke publicly about such trade rumors for the first time, in an interview in which he suggested his intention to remain on Canadian soil for the long term. In it, the power forward noted that he was never concerned or upset with all the speculation in which he was involved.
“They didn’t really bother me because I never heard anything coming out of the Raptors,” said the player. “All the news I saw was never like ‘The Warriors want Pascal’ or ‘The Kings are after Pascal. There was never anything the Raptors wanted to trade me about. “
The truth is that various media such as Bleacher Report or the Sacramento Bee they did report a potential interest from the Raptors to study the Siakam market value. However, now that the waters seem to have returned to their course, it is possible that franchise and player want to bury any type of differences that they may have had in the past.
In fact, in the same interview he summarized what the last two years have meant to him since he signed his renewal for the maximum in October 2019. “At that moment I began to become a that person [jugador franquicia]. But I didn’t feel like there was too much communication with the team. It was something I had to deal with. For me, Kyle [Lowry] he has been the best Raptor of all time. He was the man. I signed that contract but I never felt like the man. It is now that these conversations will take place. “
Indeed, Lowry’s departure for Miami and the looming reconstruction process in Toronto currently place him as the main visible head of the project. This is reflected in his own expectations for the 2021-22 season. “I felt like I was picking up the pace and it felt really good as the season was ending,” he continued. “I had COVID-19 and I lost 20 pounds, these are things that I went through. I feel like I’ve always improved and I think there is another level that I can definitely get to. I look like an All-Star. And, potentially, I want to become the MVP in the league someday. But I definitely think I will reach the next level. “
At the moment, Siakam is in the process of recovering from the operation he underwent last June to repair a shoulder injury. A procedure that could cause the start of the campaign to be missed. “I am shooting and handling the ball. At this point in the process I look better than I thought. Or at least I’m doing more than I thought I could be doing. “
(Cover photo by Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)