4. Pascal Siakam, 2016, 27th overall
During their 2019 NBA Championship run, Kawhi Leonard received much of the recognition for the sudden rise of the Toronto Raptors. However, you can make a strong argument that the Raptors don’t win the championship without the emergence of Pascal Saikam. Siakam wasn’t a household name last year, but that has very much changed this year.
Siakam was averaging 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists per game before the hiatus and was the lead man behind the surprising Raptors who had separated themselves as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Siakam was well on his way to superstardom and a deep playoff run likely would’ve cemented his place on the NBA hierarchy. The best part of his resurgence is that he’s just getting started. As the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, I’m not sure if even the Raptors could’ve seen this coming.