Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is entering critical part of development

There was a lot of talk about Pascal Siakam’s performance after the 2020 season but what should the Toronto Raptors do with their star player going forward?

After what was a wild 2019-2020 season between the Coronavirus shut down, the environment of the bubble and the exit of Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors entered the 2020 NBA Playoffs with a new emerging star – forward Pascal Siakam.

Following a gruelling seven-game series with the Celtics that included an insane Game 3 winning shot from OG Anunoby and a Game 6 that was widely considered one of the best playoff games in recent memory, the Raptors came up short against the Celtics in Game 7. Although the season was not necessarily a disappointment for Toronto, many fans and analysts turned their attention to Pascal Siakam, who did not play to his expectations on both ends during both rounds of the playoffs.

This naturally leads to fans questioning Siakam in many ways. The three main questions that are circulating when Siakam’s name is mentioned are the following: should he be traded, is he overpaid and has he already hit his max potential? This article will address all three of these questions and make the case as to why fans shouldn’t be panicking.

Let’s first look at what Siakam’s game consists of. He’s undoubtedly a finesse player, relying on crafty finishing around the rim using step throughs and spin moves. Siakam has worked on his mid-range, touch floater and three-point shot – all of which improved considerably this season; that’s a long way from the rim running, low usage energy player he was during his rookie season. Here is what Siakam’s regular season counting and advanced stats look like.