Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is not at fault for losing streak

While the Toronto Raptors have finally seen Pascal Siakam return to action after a lengthy absence, his return hasn’t coincided with victories. Siakam has played in just four games this year, and Toronto has lost all four. When Siakam sat out against Philadelphia to rest, Toronto took home the win.

While it took some time to get going, Siakam looked like the All-Star fans know and love during his last two games. Toronto’s franchise player was a few assists shy of a triple-double against the Pistons and ended up scoring 20 points in what was a close loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The natural correlation to make, if you are going to throw context and logic to the wind, is that the presence of Siakam back in the starting lineup has helped reverse Toronto’s fortunes. After all, they are 7-4 when he isn’t in the lineup, so he must have messed something up.

That explanation only works if you ignore how well Siakam has played in these games. For reasons that escape my understanding, Siakam has become one of the most polarizing players in the league. Despite the hate, he’s looked like the player we know and love in the last few games.

Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam has played well despite losing.

Siakam is making 50% of his shots and 38% of his 3-point attempts, both of which are rates that blow last year’s performance out of the water. He’s making more of an impact as a playmaker, as he recorded six or more assists in consecutive games for the eighth time in the last two seasons.

One area where he hasn’t been great is with regards to his interior defense, as playing Siakam as the center hasn’t always yielded the best results. While this move has had a slight negative impact defensively, it would be foolish to assume that Siakam alone is the reason why Toronto’s hot start has gone down the drain.

The Raptors are just not playing good basketball as a team right now. Nick Nurse did a solid job of creating a scheme that hid their deficiencies and played to their strengths, but that attack has been getting cashed with regularity in the last few games. Something needs to change.,

If you have a problem with the lack of interior defense and thin center depth (which are entirely justified), those are not problems that you can pin on Siakam. Take it up with the front office.

Sure, he hasn’t been prime Hakeem Olajuwon in the paint, but there are schematic issues in this defense that are being exploited. You can’t put all of that responsibility on Pascal.

Siakam is a big part of Toronto’s short and long-term future, and putting all the blame for this depressing skid on him is just being disingenuous.