Toronto Raptors: 3 players who need to step up without Chris Boucher
By Mike Luciano
No. 1: Pascal Siakam
Siakam is one of only two true power forwards on this roster, and the Raptors’ rotations work best Siakam dominates as a starter, then starts to give way to Boucher on the bench. Siakam might need to really pick things up on the offensive end with Boucher out of service for the forseeable future.
We know that Siakam is one of the best power forwards in the game, but he will be in with an increased offensive workload over the next few games, as Boucher is vacated nearly 14 points a and both Birch and Gillespie remain ineffective once they are pulled out of the paint.
Pascal Siakam must star without Chris Boucher
One of the best things that Boucher brought to the table was the fact that on an off night from Siakam, he could step right in and produce at a very comporable clip. Without Boucher in the lineup, the interior scoring responsibility resides almost exclusively with Siakam, who has seen his shooting from 3-point range decrease this year.
Boucher is the perfect understudy for Siakam given how similar their play styles are. One of two things will happen in the frontcourt. Either Stanley Johnson replicates Boucher and takes the load off of Siakam, which is unlikely, or Siakam goes supernova and scores even more with the Montreal native on the mend.