NBA
What are the terms of Pascal Siakam’s new deal with the Pacers?
The 30-year-old Cameroonian is set to become one of the highest paid players in the NBA. Siakam will sign his new contract in July.
Pascal Siakam is set to become one of the highest paid players in the NBA after agreeing a contract extension with the Indiana Pacers. The 30-year-old Cameroonian has accepted a four-year max deal worth $189.504 million. He will earn a base salary of $42,300,000, while carrying a cap hit of $42,300,000.
Siakam’s figures and feats since joining the Pacers
Siakam joined the Pacers from the Toronto Raptors in January, entering a multi-player trade that included Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis Jr plus three first-round draft picks. He played 41 games, including 17 playoffs as Rick Carlisle made it to the Eastern Conference finals. Siakam finished the regular season, averaging 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
He managed to carry that form into the postseason, hitting 36 and 37 points and bringing down 13 and 11 rebounds in the first two games of the Conference semi-finals against the Bucks - a feat last achieved by Elgin Baylor in 1961 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1967. He contributed a total of 367 points during the playoffs, the highest figure by any Pacers player since Paul George fired in 429 in 2014.
Indiana were keen to push a deal though as soon as they could and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, presented Siakam’s agents Todd Ramasar and Jaafar Choufani with an offer on Tuesday - just hours after the extension period opened. Without an agreement, Siakam would have entered free agency when the moratorium starts on 30 June.
The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement states that any player who is destined for free agency or who is eligible for a contract extension in July, can begin negotiating with their last club from the day following the last game of the NBA Finals. With Boston clinching the title on Monday, the earliest that the Pacers could strike a deal for Siakam was Tuesday.
However, while a new deal has been agreed, Siakam will not be able to sign it until the free agency moratorium ends at 12:01 p.m. EDT on Saturday 6 July.
While Siakam admitted that leaving Toronto signified a major upheaval in his life, he was happy to say his first few months in Indiana have not been as fraught as he feared - thanks to the support of his team mates and coaching staff.
“For me, obviously it’s been a crazy year,” he explained in the end-of-season press conference. “I came from a place where I thought I was going to spend the rest of my career. I ended up leaving there and it’s been hard. I’m a pretty positive person and I have a lot of support from my family. Leaving in the middle of the season was tough, mentally and physically. Landing here, the support from the first day has been incredible. I couldn’t really ask for anything better”.