Raptors show love to Pascal Siakam with assistant coach hire

The Toronto Raptors are fortunate to have one of the best players in the league at their disposal in Pascal Siakam. When you have a player capable of being such a dominant force, it’s only natural that the organization will have to go out of its way to make sure some of his close associates stay connected to the team.

Siakam is currently signed to a max contract, but it has the potential to grow to a supermax deal if he makes All-NBA this season. While that money would be hard to turn down, the Raptors will need to be very careful about letting him test the open market.

If the Raptors want to go overboard in making Siakam feel comfortable with the team, signing a family member (not unlike how the Milwaukee Bucks threw Giannis Antteokounmpo a bone by adding his brother Thanasis) makes a ton of sense. Pascal’s older brother Christian Siakam is now officially a member of the organization.

The elder Siakam has been named an assistant coach with Raptors 905, where he will help Eric Khoury uphold Toronto’s sterling reputation as a player development haven. Siakam already has some familiarity with the organization, which should make for a seamless transition.

Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam’s brother Christian Siakam is a coach.

Christian played his collegiate career at IUPUI, where he helped the Jaguars win 33 games in two seasons. Siakam averaged 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in college, though he put up personal bests of 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during his junior season.

Unlike Pascal, a skinnier forward who can score from all three levels, Siakam was a traditional power forward with the girth and muscle needed to be a solid rebounder and interior finisher. Perhaps he can show Christian Koloko a thing or two about post play this season.

Siakam has been a familiar face in Mississauga, as he was present during practices and various other team functions during the last few seasons. This role makes him an official part of Toronto’s development team, which could have enormous implications for their collection of young bigs.

This is not a complete nepotism hire, as Siakam has proven himself to be a trusted member of the G League team and has woven himself into the team’s program. With Pascal’s brother now an officially christened member of the coaching staff, this shows that the organization is bending over backward to make him feel valued.