3 reasons Raptors’ Pascal Siakam should’ve been an All-Star over Jarrett Allen
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors were on the verge of sending two players to the All-Star game in Cleveland this year. On top of the fact that Fred VanVleet was able to become the first undrafted player in over a decade to earn that exclusive honor, Pascal Siakam’s recent hot stretch had the attention of the league.
Unfortunately, with James Harden sitting the All-Star game out due to an injury, Adam Silver decided to name Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen as his replacement. To give Allen his flowers for a second, he’s had a season that is more than worthy of an All-Star selection.
However, if the matter of Harden’s replacement came down to a binary choice of either Siakam or Allen, one has to wonder as to what the league saw in Allen to give him the nod over Siakam. Both Allen and LaMelo Ball could be argued to have had inferior seasons to No. 43.
Siakam is somehow having an underrated season despite averaging 22 points per game on a Raptors team that is poised to make the playoffs if they stay the course. Allen is having a solid season, but Siakam’s is just a bit better upon further analysis.
3 reasons Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam should’ve been an All-Star.
3. His offensive production
Siakam is outscoring Allen by a wide margin, as his 22.0 points per game blow the young center’s 16.2 per contest out of the water. Siakam has done this while reinventing his game, as he is scoring more in the paint than he did during his All-Star season in 2018-19.
Siakam is still making some noise as a shooter, nailing 35% of his 3-point attempts. Allen’s 66% field goal percentage might look impressive in a box score, but that doesn’t show how many of his shot attempts are dunks or lay-ins near the basket that inflate the percentage.
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam does more on offense than Jarrett Allen.
Allen has yet to score 30 points in a game this season, while Siakam has already done it seven times despite missing the early chunk of the season with his shoulder injury. In his last nine games prior to a stinker against New Orleans, Siakam was averaging 26.2 points per game.
While the All-Star game should be a complete meritocracy based on individual performance, the league not so subtlely tries to make sure they can get as many of the best scorers in the game as possible. If that’s the case, why has Siakam continued to get snubbed?