Toronto Raptors: Who has the most to prove in training camp?

Pascal Siakam

Pascal Siakam proved during last year’s playoff run that he should be a key part of the Raptors going forward. He’s made the jump from the second guy off the bench to the second scoring option on a championship team. Now he will make the case for being the franchise player for a playoff team.

According to recent reports, Siakam will be looking for a max contract extension worth a total of $170 over the next 4 years. Masai Ujiri has already come out and expressed his intentions to get a deal done as soon as possible. Despite what the Raptors organization thinks and whether Siakam is offered that extension soon or over the summer, he’ll have to make one more leap to show that he’s worth that much money going forward.

Over the summer, we have seen videos of Siakam working on his jumper off the dribble and a mid-range game which will be very important for the Raptors offense and his progression as an offensive option. Nick Nurse’s offense is reliant on ball movement and 3 point shooting, but it’s important to have a go-to option if you need a bailout bucket. Last year that option was Kawhi Leonard and the year before it was DeMar DeRozan. If Siakam can make that transition this year,  he will become very hard to stop for opposing teams