Toronto Raptors: Three glaring questions ahead of the 2019-20 postseason

Pascal Siakam’s inexperience as a No. 1 option in the playoffs

Pascal Siakam, of course, has been nothing short of remarkable in his fourth NBA season, first as a number one option.

Last year, playing alongside Kawhi Leonard, Siakam was sensational as Toronto’s secondary option. It was Spicy P, not Kawhi, who shook Draymond Green and made the most important floater in franchise history.

But as good as Siakam was in last year’s playoffs, replicating those results is going to be a much tougher exercise in 2020 because of how differently he’s being treated by opponents this season as Toronto’s primary scorer, rather than its second-in-command.

We’ve seen Siakam struggle for stretches this season. He’s struggled against the Heat, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Orlando Magic – shooting under 40 percent against all three conference foes. Against the terrifying Milwaukee Bucks, Siakam is shooting 39.4 percent across two losses.

I have little doubt that, with time and experience, Siakam will develop into a reliable and explosive playoff performer, and you, the reader, should be confident in Siakam too. He’s given us both little reason to believe anything else.

But expect there to be some growing pains along the way when it comes to Siakam excelling in the postseason. His teammates are plenty capable of supporting him as he learns how to be a superstar in a postseason environment, but Siakam will need to remain a quick study if both he and the Raptors hope to find success in the spring and, hopefully, on June 4th. That is the date of Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals.

If Toronto winds up making the dance again, you better believe a big part of the reason will have been Pascal Siakam’s emergence into a bonafide NBA superstar.