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It has been just shy of six weeks since the Raptors cemented a significant makeover by dealing top player Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers.

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Toronto has mostly struggled in the absence of its former leading scorer as everyone adjusts to the revamp, but comes into Monday’s road game at Indy with two straight wins.

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Meanwhile, Indiana had gone just 8-8 with Siakam in the lineup before an impressive 133-111 home win over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. The 9-8 mark might be a disappointing tally, considering Siakam was supposed to be the missing piece to propel the Pacers toward the top of the Eastern Conference, but keep in mind that all-star starter Tyrese Haliburton, the NBA leader in assists, missed five of the games due to injury and was under a minutes restriction and not at 100% for the first four following his return.

The Pacers are just starting to grasp how good they can be offensively with a healthy Haliburton and Siakam linking up.

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It started with a win at Toronto just before the all-star break in Siakam’s much-heralded return to his longtime NBA home. Siakam notched 23 points and seven assists in that one with Haliburton finally looking right. Haliburton then nearly won All-Star Game MVP as the hometown hero in Indianapolis and the duo dominated lowly Detroit in a post-break laugher.

Siakam was quiet on Sunday by scoring just 12 points, his low as a Pacer, but Haliburton notched a double-double and centre Myles Turner scored 33 points. Haliburton has seven games this season where he has handed out at least 12 assists without committing a single turnover and most of those games came without Siakam. It’s going to be interesting to see what they can do together.

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Overall, Siakam had been outstanding in his first 16 games as a Pacer. He shot a torrid 44% from three (including an unsustainable 61.5% from the corners), well above his 31.7% shooting this season as a Raptor, is turning the ball over less, rebounding better and looking more active defensively. That doesn’t include his 0-for-2 three-point shooting on Sunday.

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No longer worried about his next contract (Siakam is going to be paid in full by the Pacers on a new long-tern deal) or dealing with endless trade rumours, Siakam looks free and has flourished. He shot worse than 47% Sunday for the first time since Feb. 1 (nine games) and Indiana has won four of five.

It’s possible the Pacers sit Haliburton on Monday, given his recent injury and the game concluding a back-to-back, which would make Siakam the clear focal point.

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Three of the players acquired through the spoils of the Siakam trade — Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji — are starting to play extremely well for the Raptors, making up a big part of a suddenly dangerous bench. One of the draft picks the Pacers sent to Toronto (likely the worst of the three) was the main piece that went to Utah for Olynyk and Agbaji, while Brown was the player who went north along with Jordan Nwora, who hasn’t made an impact yet.

Brown, Olynyk, Agbaji, rookie Gradey Dick and one of Scottie Barnes or Immanuel Quickley have gelled nicely since the deal, particularly lately. Toronto will also get Indiana’s first-round pick in 2026 and another this summer. This year’s Indiana pick should land somewhere between 13th (if the Pacers continue to lurk around .500 with Siakam) and 23rd (if they go on a huge run).

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DOWN GOES YOUNG

Toronto’s chances at a play-in game appearance improved significantly on Sunday with the news that Atlanta all-star Trae Young tore a ligament in his hand and will miss at least a month. That means Young, easily the team’s leading scorer and playmaker (only Haliburton averages more assists) will miss more than half of the remaining Hawks games.

Atlanta was three games up on free-falling Brooklyn Nets and 3 1/2 ahead of Toronto for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in spot before hosting Orlando on Sunday. That said, Atlanta is nearly historically bad defensively and Young could well be the single worst defender in the NBA. Maybe what they lose in offence while he’s out will be cancelled out somewhat by defensive improvements.

X: @WolstatSun

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