Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam continues to blossom

He wasn’t expected to become an NBA player, but Pascal Siakam continues to defy the odds this season for the Toronto Raptors.

There’s a classic tale of one’s journey through the ranks in order to make it to the NBA. You start off making fire mixtapes in AAU and high school basketball, enough to get selected to the McDonald’s All-American Game and get recruited by some of the NCAA’s top Division I programs.

Next comes the college scene, where you go for just a single season before leaving to the pros, dominating everyone in sight and shooting up all the mock draft boards. You get selected in the early picks and go on to develop into a perennial All-Star and maybe even a future Hall-of-Famer.

It’s the path so many of today’s elites have taken to get to where they are in the present. There are some who stray from this course, but there’s one guy in particular who did it differently, mainly because he didn’t have much of a choice. Only now, he’s turning heads as one of the most important players on one of the best teams in the league.

Pascal Siakam was born and raised in Cameroon, Africa, which also happens to be the birthplace of All-Star Joel Embiid. Like the Philadelphia 76ers‘ center, Siakam was discovered by Luc Mbah a Moute, another Cameroon native who ran a basketball camp for the local kids every summer.

Siakam’s energy and effort were apparent even at a young age, and he would eventually move to the states for high school and go on to play two seasons at New Mexico State University before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft.

He was taken 27th overall by the Toronto Raptors, but he was by no means viewed as a diamond in the rough. Some believed general manager Masai Ujiri had reached too early for the raw prospect, and for a team coming off its first-ever appearance in the Conference Finals, the future should’ve been the furthest thing from their minds.

Siakam would have a mediocre first two seasons in the league, finding playing time in spurts behind the likes of Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas. It wasn’t until the 2018-19 campaign, though, where he’d find his niche for the first time in his career.

There aren’t many specialists in the NBA anymore, as the league has grown to become increasingly dependent on versatility. It’s about bringing multiple skills to the table so you can find playing time no matter the circumstances.

Head coach Nick Nurse would ride that wave by inserting Siakam into the starting lineup and moving Ibaka to the center spot prior to the start of the year, and in this, his third season, he’s blossomed into one of the best role players in the game.

His averages of 16.1 points and 7.0 rebounds are good, but it’s the eye test that makes him great.  He battles among bigs in the lane and then uses the same motor he showed back in Africa to stay in front of guards on the perimeter.

Following a rebound, you’ll see guys like Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard jog it up the court, but you’ll also see the ball in the hands of the 6’9” Siakam, allowing the two to fill the lane and run dribble hand-offs, creating mismatches and unique scoring opportunities.

His increased 3-point efficiency from below 30 percent his first two seasons to 34.1 percent this year has been a revelation as well, adding to the already full box of tools he uses throughout the course of a game.

Toronto’s offensive rating jumps 9.4 points per 100 possessions with Siakam on the floor. The opponent’s increases by 4.6 when he’s off it. For a guy who didn’t pick up a basketball until 2011, he’s become increasingly valuable on a team vying for a championship.

Like any team, the Raptors are a mixture of stars and role players. But then there’s Siakam, who seems to have his foot in both worlds — not among the best in the business, but too important to be deemed just a complementary piece.

At this rate, there’s no telling how good he’ll be in the coming years. There’s a very real chance he develops into an All-Star as early as next year. For now, he’ll have to settle for the leading candidate to win the Most Improved Player award as a key cog on one of the premier teams looking to go where it’s never been. Not a bad start to a career that continues to defy the odds.