October Takeaway: Pascal Siakam‘s 2018-19 wasn’t a fluke
There are very few things that I think we can trust this early in the season, but Siakam’s progression is one that I feel pretty comfortable buying into. After the departure of Kawhi Leonard, it was pretty clear that Siakam was going to inherit a lot of those shots based on the limitations of his supporting cast. What wasn’t clear was: A) how he was going to get those shots, and B) how efficient he was going to be with this increased workload. Both of those have been cleared up in the first week.
Pascal Siakam is averaging 27.5 points, up from 16.9 last season, and he’s doing it with a drastically different style than before.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 30, 2019
Siakam fed off corner 3s and cuts in the halfcourt, but now he's creating for himself using post-ups and pick-and-rolls. https://t.co/7uHLuW8Pr7 pic.twitter.com/Ka96chnQpr
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor explains it well in this graphic, but what isn’t explained is how rare it is to make this kind of jump in production and play style. Siakam already made a huge jump last season and was recognized as the league’s most improved player, but if he keeps this up then this year’s improvement may be even more significant.
It’s not supposed to be this easy for players to become “the guy” when they’ve never had to do it before. But it took Siakam just one offseason to figure it out and now he’s adopted the play style and statistical prominence of a legitimate All-NBA caliber player.
I don’t think anyone could have guessed that Siakam would ever be living in the same neighborhood as the best players in the league, but if he keeps this up and the Raptors win a lot of games then he’ll definitely be in that conversation as one of the best handful of players in the world.