Toronto Raptors: Can Pascal Siakam live up to over sized expectations?
Strengths
Perhaps Pascal’s biggest strength is his versatility.
Offensively, Siakam is a brilliant slasher both with and without the ball. He has a knack for getting to the rim, even without the presence of an outside jumper. Last season Siakam attempted more than 70-percent of his shot attempts at the rim, converting nearly 69-percent.
If you bring help, he makes you pay. Siakam has developed into a tremendous secondary playmaker, averaging 3.4 assists per 36 minutes last year.
Often times you could see Siakam setting up his frontcourt partner, Jakob Poeltl, with slick interior dimes.
This is a one-handed lob on the run, thrown to an area where Poeltl can easily finish without re-gathering. That’s a beautiful pass from a point guard, let alone a 6’9″ power forward.
On the other side of the ball, Siakam can guard nearly everyone on the court. During times in the Washington Wizards playoff series, Siakam was the primary defender on John Wall. That’s not switching on a point guard; that’s matching up with one of the best point guards in the league.
While he is best as a switch defender, Siakam can also blitz the pick-and-roll relatively effectively. He is quick enough to recover to everyone but the most elite three-point marksman and has solid instincts of when to help and when to recover back to his man.
At his best, Siakam’s game is reminiscent of Al Horford and Draymond Green. An offensive hub, with elite two-way potential. He’s nowhere near those players at this point in time. Both have been elected to an All-NBA team. But if he continues to make developmental gains similar to last offseason, he can enter into the conversation.