Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is a huge part of Toronto’s early success
By Quinn Allen
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has been a huge part of the team’s early success in 2018-19
The Toronto Raptors currently hold the best record in the NBA and could very well be an early favorite to meet the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. The acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green have immensely helped this team, adding two quality players who can contribute in all parts of the game.
But despite guys like Leonard and Green playing quality basketball, there is one player who is exceeding expectations this year which has propelled him into breaking into the starting lineup. Pascal Siakam is enjoying an outstanding campaign so far for the Raptors. He is playing 29.9 minutes per game, substantially more than last season under Dwane Casey.
Besides his 14.8 points per game, Siakam has also captured 6.4 rebounds per contest. The 6 foot 9 power forward is shooting an impressive 63.3 percent from the field, which is seventh in the league.
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So what exactly has changed this year to make Siakam be so effective? Let’s dig deeper into his brilliance.
Slowly developed every year
In Siakam’s first year in the NBA, he started 38 of 55 games and averaged just 4.2 points per game. It was his rookie season so there really wasn’t a ton of expectations. Last year, he took on more of a bench role, starting five games of the 81 on the season. Siakam slightly improved from his 2016-17 season, scoring 7.3 points per game and collecting 4.5 rebounds per contest.
Fast forward to this season under Nick Nurse and he’s fully earned his starting spot. Siakam is playing very aggressive this year, taking every opportunity possible to use his speed and cut to the hoop for a dunk. His length and athleticism has helped him on both sides of the ball this year, using his physicality and big body to grab rebounds and also find his way to the hoop for high percentage shots.
Siakam has seen all his shooting percentages improve this season. He leads the league with a 70.2 2-point shooting percentage, and is also shooting 35 percent from the three-point line. He doesn’t shoot the ball very often from downtown, but his efficiency with two-pointers have been so good that it hasn’t really mattered.
The 24-year-old has a 15.2 net rating this year, meaning the Raptors are outscoring their opponents by that many points per 100 possessions when Siakam is on the floor. When he’s on the bench, Toronto is actually being outscored by 2.5 points, per NBA.com. Safe to say his presence is definitely felt this year.
Having elite players around him like Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard feeding him the ball definitely helps, but Siakam is creating a lot of his scoring opportunities all on his own. He does a great job of finding lanes to the hoop where can throw down vicious dunks or just simply finish with a layup at the rim.
On track to be most improved player
If Siakam keeps on playing this way, he’s definitely going to be a top candidate to win the Most Improved Player of the year award by the season’s end. His importance to this Raptors team goes deeper than people think since they have more notable names like Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry who garner a lot of the attention.
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Siakam has seen all of his numbers rise this year and it’s definitely a huge reason the Toronto Raptors are currently the best team in the NBA.
The future is bright for the 24-year-old Toronto Raptors power forward.