Pascal Siakam
The main man tops the billing this week with a superb display of his growing confidence and superstardom. Like Anunoby, Siakam’s progression has been anything but linear, and people really wondered how much he could really grow – since he is now 25 years old.
The answer to that? A lot.
Siakam looks like an even more complete player than the one that won the Most Improved Player award one year ago. Now, he’s taking above the break threes with confidence, and making them!
So far this season, Siakam has taken 20 above-the-break threes, hitting 55-percent of them. Considering last season saw him evolve as a catch-and-shoot guy for the Raptors, seeing him take an extra step and start taking three-pointer off the dribble is huge.
It was the 12-point victory against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night where Siakam really left his mark. The Raptors needed to pull away from the Pistons to start the second half, and Siakam’s performance in the third quarter allowed that to happen. Siakam shot 8-of-12 from the field and 75-percent from three as he put up 19 points, hitting difficult shot after difficult shot to put the game beyond the reach of Detroit.
His game has surpassed what most people expected from him this early on, and now we’re really beginning to wonder just how much his star can grow. Is Siakam a top-10 player in the NBA right now? Maybe.
VERDICT: STOCK UP
That about does it for this week. As always, we’ll be back next Friday to do it all again. Until then, have a good week and enjoy some Raptors basketball.