Woj: Warriors must be ready to ‘max out' Siakam if they trade for him originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

A potential trade for Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam could cost the Warriors an arm and a leg.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski joined "NBA Today" on Friday to discuss the trade market for Siakam, which reportedly includes Golden State, and stated any team that trades for the 29-year-old should be prepared to offer him a max contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 NBA season.

"Pascal Siakam is going to have a lot of voice about where he's going to get traded because he's going to be a free agent this summer," Wojnarowski said. "And so, if you are trading for Pascal Siakam, you have to be ready to max him out, you've got to know he wants to be there and you have to have a package out there that makes sense for Toronto.

"They've been engaged for really a couple years on Siakam. Because he could walk at the end of the season, they haven't gotten anywhere on doing an extension together. I think for the Warriors the risk is, 'OK, what do we want to do with our payroll? Are we willing to max out Pascal Siakam?' Because there are teams with cap space this summer that are going to be willing to do it."

Golden State, who currently has the largest payroll in NBA history, certainly would have some hoops to jump through should they trade for Siakam and look to lock him up long-term.

The Warriors also reportedly are not keen on the idea of trading budding young star Jonathan Kuminga, who likely would be the centerpiece of any package for Siakam.

"The Warriors do have interest in Pascal ... I do think it's a difficult pathway because he's going to have a lot of say about where he goes," Wojnarowski added.

Golden State appears ready to make a move before the Feb. 8 trade deadline and reportedly has "everyone but Steph Curry" on the table. While the Warriors might have a difficult path to a Siakam trade, they could have enough motivation to overcome any obstacles.

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