3 reasons Raptors are still better than Knicks after 2022 offseason

1. Pascal Siakam > Julius Randle

After Siakam took a step backward in the Tampa sabbatical and Randle looked like a dominant forward, it looked like the Knicks standout has vaunted past the Cameroonian big man on every hypothetical power ranking list you could imagine. After 2022, Siakam proved he is in another stratosphere.

Siakam is fresh off an All-NBA season in which he averaged 22.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game with solid efficiency. Randle’s rebounding bested that of Siakam, but making just 41% of his shots as a forward led to a decline in scoring that hampered the Knicks’ offense.

Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is better than Julius Randle.

Anyone who is unironically arguing for Randle, who will still be the primary shot-taker for this 2022-23 New York team, either has a personal connection to Randle, is such a Knicks homer that they won’t take off the rose-colored glasses for a second, or exists only to irritate Raptors fans.

Siakam’s All-NBA performance may have come by a very narrow margin, but even casual observers can see that he took his game to new heights last year. If Siakam replicates that in 2022-23, it will be very hard for Randle to lead the Knicks to a better record.