How did Pascal Siakam’s return change the Toronto Raptors’ scheme?

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse had a plan to insert Pascal Siakam back into the starting lineup, and it was very on-brand. He took the progressive route, threw positional basketball to the winds, and got creative enough to play him at the center position over Precious Achiuwa against the Brooklyn Nets. 

From a personnel standpoint, this allowed Nurse to start his most decorated star while simultaneously maintaining rookie sensation Scottie Barnes’ expected time. With three of the Raptors’ four best players being designated as nominal forwards, it was always going to take some finagling to get them all the minutes they deserve.

From a tactical standpoint, this allowed the Raptors to get 90% of the defensive impact they were getting from Achiuwa in the middle while vastly improving their ability to put the ball in the basket by replacing him with Siakam.

Pascal’s ability to score in isolation is an obvious upgrade over Achiuwa, as his shooting skill is something that Precious just doesn’t have in his arsenal yet. With the Raptors’ best young pieces ironically doubling as some of their weakest shooters, it’s important to have reliable spacers to keep the floor open for the team’s offense.

Siakam’s shooting has been somewhat inconsistent throughout his career, but now that there’s less pressure on him to generate the team’s offense, perhaps he can focus more on finishing plays, rather than kickstarting them. Either way, it’s an upgrade to have a deep-range threat at that spot.

How did the Toronto Raptors perform with Pascal Siakam back?

When you implement a high usage All-Star back into your rotation, there are always going to be some growing pains, especially on the first night. Oddly enough, the scoring wasn’t the problem here. Toronto missed their long-range shots, but that didn’t have anything to do with the scheme. Sometimes, you just miss.

The chemistry hiccups were more on the defensive end. Miscues, slow rotations, and the other team showing off two of the greatest scorers ever made it tough for Toronto to get any stops. Even amid all the winning, when the Raptors don’t get stops, they don’t get as many buckets.

Siakam being back on the court doesn’t mean we’re going to start picking set defenses apart. The 2021-22 Raptors are still a raw, young team without a bonafide superstar on their roster. They can’t afford to get comfortable and coast.

The way this team won games before was by beating teams into submission and generating offense from defense. They were a giant, fast-twitch, electric storm of arms and legs chasing teams around the court. Now that Siakam is back, they have the luxury of an all-star on the team, but they can’t forget the team’s philosophy.

The Raptors were ok, but they didn’t show their usual brand of fire on Sunday night. Maybe it was because the other team had James Harden and Kevin Durant, but they still must improve if they want to avenge the loss.

The Raptors moving Precious Achiuwa to the bench helped.

Now that Achiuwa is coming off the bench, there may be some concern that he’ll get lost in the shuffle between him, Chris Boucher, and Khem Birch. He was the big draw from the Kyle Lowry trade package, and Raptors fans would rather not see him become a 2nd or 3rd-string big man when it’s all said and done.

Still, this might be the best thing for his development.

In the starting lineup, Achiuwa was forced to do things that he wasn’t suited for. On D, protect the rim straight up. On the other end, play the dunker spot and finish the high pick and roll. He’s not a classical rim running big. He’s atypical, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still effective.

He’s not the same level of creator or talent as Barnes, but his speed combined with his size allows him to burn by taller, slower bigs while still being able to defend them on the other end.

There wasn’t much room for him to play that way with the starters, but Achiuwa looked more at home as a reserve.

We saw him pick-n-pop and take shots from the mid-range. He had more defensive responsibilities, switching onto the perimeter rather than contesting everything at the rim.

Achiuwa has real difficulty scoring inside against opposing bigs. It’s to be expected given his height, but now that he’s playing more forward off the bench, it’ll put him in positions to expand his game and become a more complete offensive threat.

Even when Siakam is not on the floor, his presence is forcing those around him to improve.