Raptors’ Pascal Siakam outdueling Joel Embiid should put NBA on notice

The Toronto Raptors started the season 2-2 despite tons of matchups against playoff contenders, thanks to a tremendous start to the season from Pascal Siakam. Taking down a rival in the division like the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Joel Embiid and James Harden, required nothing short of an elite performance from No. 43.

In the first four games of the season, Siakam has recorded a double-double against an elite Cavaliers frontcourt, amassed another triple-double at the expense of the Nets, and held his own against Bam Adebayo in two Heat clashes without Scottie Barnes for support. Philly was a tough challenge, but Siakam answered the call again.

Siakam finished this win with 20 points, five rebounds, and 13 assists, showing both his improved passing ability and near 50% efficiency despite having to go against Embiid in the paint for most of the night. Fred VanVleet’s clutch shooting and Gary Trent Jr’s 16-point third quarter helped put Toronto in front.

Siakam had established himself as the best player on the team long before this season entered the picture, but what we’re witnessing is the emergence of perhaps the best frontcourt player the Raptors have seen in a decade. The rest of the league really needs to take notice of what’s going on here.

Pascal Siakam is emerging into a bona fide star for the Toronto Raptors.

Siakam started the first quarter on fire, finishing with 15 points after making all four of his 3-point attempts while rebounding well and defending multiple high-level scorers in Philadelphia’s starting lineup. As Trent started to heat up, Siakam moved more to a distributor role, and it worked to perfection.

Consider, for a moment, that a night in which he recorded 23 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from the floor in a road win against a very good Heat team was his worst game of the season. The jump we’re seeing from him this year on the offensive end may be enough to help this team make a deep playoff run.

Siakam barely squeaked onto the All-NBA Third Team last year, but there’s no reason he can’t be Second Team this season. Being a nightly triple-double threat is nothing new, but the extraordinary efficiency with which he’s scoring and the defensive hustle he is exhibiting will be enough to set him apart.

Siakam may not achieve his very goal of becoming a top-five player in the league (through no fault of his own) this season, but there is no reason why he can’t move into the top 15 if performances like what he authored on Wednesday night are replicated with some degree of regularity.