Toronto Raptors: Stock up and stock down for Game 1

Pascal Siakam

Question: What does a $130million man really look like?

Answer: Easy; Pascal Siakam.

In his first game since signing his four-year $130million extension, Siakam was proving to the whole basketball world that he was, and is, more than ready to step up in the absence of Kawhi Leonard and lead the team on its new path – and all before the ink had barely dried on the contract.

In 38 minutes of action, Siakam came forth with 34 points, 18 rebounds(!), and five assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. In an ideal world, Siakam doesn’t foul out and the Raptors probably walk away with this one in regulation – but that wasn’t the case and that was the only thing stopping his performance from being near-perfect.

As the primary-scoring option for the Raptors, Siakam looked just as good as he needed to. It wasn’t a classic ultra-efficient performance – he was 11-of-26 from the field – but his ability to create offense for himself on the regular, attacking the basket and finishing in contact, was impressive.

To stick with that point, Siakam got to the free-throw line 11 times, sinking 10 of his attempts. Last season, Siakam got to the line 3.8 times per game, shooting 78-percent. This season, he’ll need that volume and percentage to go way up. The same goes for his three-point shooting, and he shot 40-percent (2-of-5) from deep on opening night.

The things that need to be done are being one. But, like Gasol, it’s appropriate to say that it’s only Game 1. No one is expecting anything close to 34 points every night, but what we saw was a good indication of the damage Siakam can do.

VERDICT: Stock up