With two games left to play, Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors will face the Dallas Mavericks in an inconsequential contest Friday night. A long productive stretch of seven seasons of playoff basketball is now history, and the franchise will now focus on seeing what their youth is capable of in these last three games, the draft and the offseason.
There is certainly plenty of concern about what went wrong this season with the Raptors, including decisions not to sign a true starting center in the summer, not addressing the team’s lack of depth at the center position until after the trade deadline, playing in Tampa, and the play of certain players like Pascal Siakam.
His struggles began last season during the Florida Bubble and spilled over into this season at times as well. For his part, Siakam felt “weird” looking back on the closeout to last season.
"“When I watched the games one of the things that I really pointed out was that I didn’t recognize myself, just in terms of having fun."
Siakam, currently out of the lineup with a shoulder injury, is averaging 21.4 points, 4,5 assists, and 7.2 rebounds in 56 games this season. Still, has been a target of many critics despite the fact he is about to complete his second season of averaging over 20 points per game and is taking on the role as the team’s top-scoring option.
Pascal Siakam has a career-high 44 points with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and I'd still advise him not to check his mentions tonight.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 7, 2021
It’s likely the additional attention is because his contract extension of nearly $130 million over four years kicked in this season. Those same critics don’t make allowances because in the last two seasons, Kawhi Leonard left, as did starters Danny Green, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka.
For better or worse, Siakam is the team’s top star, and the Raptors should stay the course with him at the helm, and here’s why.
The Toronto Raptors need to lean on Pascal Siakam.
Pascal Siakam’s stats are good
At age 26, Siakam has already played a big role in helping his team, and himself secure an NBA title in 2019. He was also declared the Most Improved Player that season and was honored with an all-star appearance last year for his on-court efforts. None of these accomplishments occur without hard work that translates onto the stats sheet.
While his three-point average is down to 29.7 percent from 35.9 last season, Siakam is only averaging 21.4 points a game, slightly lower than last season’s 22.9. It means he is finding a variety of ways to score and contribute to the Raptors’ success.
Pascal Siakam is improving as a playmaker.
In addition to his three-point average being down, his overall field goal averages are similar to last season at 45.5 percent.
Despite this, Siakam remains a good free-throw shooter at 82.7 percent and continues to improve his playmaking skills, averaging 4.5 assists per game while he averaged just 3.5 last season. Siakam has scored 25 points or more 19 times this season, and more than 30 in two of his last four games, including 44 vs. the Washington Wizards.
Despite missing some game-winning shots, Siakam is the Raptors’ top scorer, and trading him away now would not be wise.
Struggle breeds success
There is a great 1997 commercial involving the GOAT of the NBA, Michael Jordan. In that commercial, Jordan details his failures. He had missed over 9,000 shots, lost close to 300 games, 26 times he was trusted to take the game-winning shot and failed, and he had failed over and over again in his life. His narration ends with the line,” and that’s why I succeed.”
Professional sports are unique because players succeed at what would be considered a failure rate in other aspects of life. Not because it’s easy but because it’s hard. It takes hard work and dedication to fight through fatigue, distractions, opponents, and sometimes pain to produce the perfect play, game, or season.
This season, in addition to any perceived struggles, Siakam had to battle COVID-19 this season. With COVID-19 a relatively new virus in relative terms, there are not many who can equate what it feels like to try and maintain a professional athletic schedule while coping with the effects of this virus.
Pascal Siakam needs to recover from COVID-19 fully.
Rudy Gobert, whose positive test for COVID-19 in March of 2020, is a testament to how life-changing the virus can be. As he stated months after, he could still not smell properly. It is somewhat difficult to make an objective and fair assessment of Skiakam’s season between late February and now when COVID-19 ripped through the Raptors’ roster.
Pascal Siakam is not overpaid
In October of 2019, Siakam signed an extension to his rookie contract worth $130 million over four years to continue playing with the Raptors. He had played a significant role in the 2019 playoffs, leading to the Raptors reaching the pinnacle of NBA success. He was also named the Most Improved Player in 2019 and would play in his first All-Star game in 2020.
Siakam would also start proving in the absence of Kawhi Leonard that he could be the team’s star. After the Florida Bubble struggle from last year and some uneven play this season, there are rumblings he is overvalued. This is not the case.
Siakam was drafted in 2016 at No. 27 overall. If the 2016 Draft were redone, knowing what we know now, Siakam would be at least a top-five pick in a draft re-do. It is hard to say that Siakam does not belong among this group. Brandon Ingram put up similar, and his draft classmate signed a five-year $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Pascal Siakam’s contract value is fair.
Leonard’s arrival in Toronto helped a young core of talent, including Siakam, ascend to championship status. Players who can lead or shine on the big stage are hard to find, and Siakam already has done it and knows what it takes to do it.
While Jamal Murray ($27.2 million) led Denver to the Western Conference Finals last year, he is out with knee trouble for the remainder of this season. Ben Simmons ($30.5 million) has yet to lead Philadelphia beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Raptors’ frontcourt help arrived too late
For significant chunks of this season, Siakam has been asked to play center in a small-ball lineup not because of choice, but by necessity. Management chose not to bring back either Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka, replacing them with projects like Alex Len a failed lottery pick earlier this decade, and Aron Baynes, who has rarely been an NBA starter.
Both players failed miserably, with Len cut loose in January. That left Toronto with one center on the roster in Baynes, and he showed he’s an aging talent that was limited to begin with. Chris Boucher, who while improving is thin and wiry, had to play center without the girth to handle bigger players.
Failing to use Boucher has meant employing Siakam at the center spot. It hasn’t worked as well as hoped and leaves the Raptors susceptible to giving up rebounds all over the court. The Raptors average just 41.6 per game as a team for 28th overall in the NBA.
Pascal Siakam might be better at power forward next year.
The majority of those meager rebounding numbers were amassed before the Raptors waited until the buyout period to add Freddie Gillespie and Khem Birch to beef up their frontcourt holes.
It’s no wonder that with the added help and without having to do all the heavy lifting in the frontcourt, Siakam has produced eight games in which he has scored over 20 points in his last 13.
Whether Toronto simply brings back Birch and Gillespie, or finds credible upgrades in the off-season for next year, it has been a stressful season for Siakam, and the team did not provide him with the support he needed. 2021-22 should be better.