Raptors All-Star snub Pascal Siakam more deserving than these 3 players

Nothing has gone right for the Toronto Raptors this season, but fans were still finding some speckles of hope awaiting the potential All-Star nomination of All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam. Unfortunately, the miasma of negativity that has corrupted this 2022-23 season even managed to spoil this great moment.

Siakam was not named to the All-Star team for what would have been the second time in his career. Considering the fact that he is averaging 24.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game, one has to wonder what else he should have done to make himself a more desirable candidate.

As with every All-Star nominee list, fans across the league are going to complain that their favorite player was snubbed by a cast of characters who don’t understand their genius. Without sounding like I’m just overflowing with righteous indignation, Siakam may be the most egregious snub in either conference.

Siakam’s stats, performance beyond the raw box scores, and skill despite a lack of talent around him should have helped him earn a nomination to Salt Lake City. Siakam has had a better individual season in 2022-23 than each of these three All-Star nominees.

Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam deserved an All-Star nomination.

3. Julius Randle, New York Knicks

Siakam and Randle are often pitted against one another, as they are similarly talented players within the same division. Randle will now have the edge in All-Star game appearances despite the fact Siakam has multiple All-NBA nods in his Raptors career.

Randle’s box score stats are not that dissimilar to Siakam, as he is averaging 24.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game for a Knicks team that will likely make the postseason. Even though Siakam has better passing, efficiency, and defense with fewer turnovers despite his minutes workload, Randle got the nod.

Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is more complete than Julius Randle.

The fact that Jalen Brunson has been a much better player than any of the Raptors’ second options should be another plus for Siakam. He’s doing more, or at least the same, with less, but the coaches haven’t considered or internalized that point.

If the point of the All-Star Game is purely meritocratic in an attempt to get the best possible players in the game, the fact that Randle is in and Siakam is not flies in the face of that directive. The only way Siakam can get to Utah is if he’s named as an injury replacement.