Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam’s struggles must be key to future success
By Duncan Smith
The Toronto Raptors were left for dead after Kawhi Leonard departed last summer, but thanks to Pascal Siakam they succeeded this season.
The Toronto Raptors had a one-season championship window after trading for Kawhi Leonard two offseasons ago. All indications pointed to him departing in free agency, and the Raptors made the most of their opportunity by winning an NBA championship before he left. Leonard’s departure seemed like a death-blow to a franchise that had finally broken through, barring major internal development. In the form of Pascal Siakam, that development came.
Siakam followed up on an excellent 2018-19 season in which he was the NBA’s Most Improved Player with an even better 2019-20, earning his first All-Star appearance. His production surged from his MIP season where he averaged 16.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game to a sparking 22.9 points and 7.3 rebounds as a No. 1 scoring option for the Raptors.
With a significantly higher load to carry (usage went from 20.8 to 28.1 percent), his efficiency dropped overall. His true shooting percentage dropped fro 62.8 to 55.4 and his effective field goal percentage dropped from 59.1 to 51.2. Siakam had a bigger burdern to shoulder, and it’s entirely normal to see a dip like that as a result.
Siakam struggled mightily in the NBA bubble, shooting just 39.4 percent from the floor and seeing his scoring average drop to 16.9 points per game, and he struggled in the playoffs as well. He averaged 20.8 points per game against the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from 3-point range, but he directly off the cliff in the second round.
Pascal Siakam’s great struggle against the Boston Celtics
Against the Boston Celtics, Siakam averaged 14.9 points per game on 17.2 shooting possessions per game. He shot 38.2 percent from the floor and just 12.5 percent from 3-point range, hitting just four of his 32 attempts from behind the arc.
Siakam shot 25.4 percent on all jump shots in the playoffs, scoring 0.619 points per possession (ppp). Per Synergy, that placed him in just the second percentile among playoff shooters. On catch-and-shoot opportunities, he scored 0.875 ppp on unguarded shots and on unguarded opportunities he scored a woeful 0.625 ppp. On jump shots off the dribble, he scored just 10 points on 22 possessions.
It was a historically poor shooting performance on a big stage.
However, we need look no further than his teammate Kyle Lowry’s experience to learn what should come next for Pascal Siakam.
"“When we got swept by the Wizards I read every single article. I read every single thing that was said about me – good, bad, evil, terrible, awesome, and I used it as motivation. And that’s what (Siakam) is going to do. That’s the advice I would give him.”"
The sky is still the limit for Siakam. He’s just 26 years old (younger than Lowry was when he made his ascent to the top tier of NBA point guards), and he came to the game later than most players do. His rawness may have played a part in his struggles against such a vaunted defensive squad as the Boston Celtics, but that lends some credence to the idea that he can improve plenty as well.
Siakam has already made two leaps, from raw young player to the NBA’s Most Improved Player and the Robin to Kawhi Leonard’s Batman on a championship squad, to All-Star as the top dog on his team. He needs to use this awful experience as fuel as he seeks to find his third and most difficult leap to propel the Toronto Raptors back to the top of the NBA’s pecking order.
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