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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – The last time Pascal Siakam was a regular starter for the Toronto Raptors, just two short years ago, the circumstances were a tad unusual and he was a very different player.

It was early in the 2016-17 campaign, Siakam’s rookie season. With Jared Sullinger hurt and the Raptors thin at power forward, he started 38 games before the team ultimately traded for Serge Ibaka.

A surprise selection with the 27th-overall pick that summer, Siakam made a strong impression out of the gate. The Cameroon native and New Mexico State alum earned immediate praise for his motor and his speed. On a nightly basis, Siakam would score at least one bucket by simply out-running the other nine players on the court. He was relentless.

Early comparisons included Kenneth Faried and former Raptor Amir Johnson. NBAdraft.net likened him to his countryman, Luc Mbah a Moute, who had hosted the basketball camp that inspired Siakam to pick up the sport when he was 16. He reminded then Raptors head coach Dwane Casey of long-time Magic forward Bo Outlaw. You’ll notice all of those guys are – or were – energy players, known for hard play over skill, important role pieces but none of them stars.

By mid-season, after Ibaka was acquired and just as teams were starting to figure him out, Siakam fell out of Toronto’s rotation altogether. Those were rough times for the young forward – going from starter, to bench warmer, to D-Leaguer in the blink of an eye. The issue was opposing teams would virtually ignore him on the perimeter. He couldn’t shoot and he didn’t pose much of a threat with the ball in his hands. Simply put, his strengths didn’t outweigh his weaknesses, not in the modern NBA, which values versatility and offensive skill at all five positions more than ever before.

Fast-forward 20 months and Siakam looks like an almost unrecognizable player. Some things haven’t changed, of course. He still plays the game at a blistering pace and with his unrelenting energy. He’s still the fastest guy on the court most nights. And, not for a lack of hard work, he still hasn’t added a reliable three-point shot, hitting 22 per cent of his attempts last season and just 3-of-13 to open the new year.

That hasn’t mattered much, though. The new and improved Siakam is skilled and confident enough to make up for the one remaining hole in his game. Since that turbulent rookie year, Siakam has worked to develop his ball handling, court vision and passing, essentially reinventing himself as a point forward, while continuing to grow as a long and versatile defender. Now, not only has he been able to stay on the court, he’s blossoming into one of the most valuable players on one of the best teams in the NBA.

A popular breakout candidate after taking a big step forward as a sophomore last season, Siakam hasn’t disappointed. Through eight games, the 24-year-old is averaging 10.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals on 59 per cent shooting in 26.0 minutes per contest – all career-highs – for the 7-1 Raptors.

“It means everything to us,” Kyle Lowry said of Siakam’s energy, following Toronto’s 129-112 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. “I think it’s under-appreciated by fans and people, but it’s not by us. He’s unbelievable, honestly. The things he’s doing, the things he can do on that basketball floor, the pace he plays with, the energy, the skill work. Just give him all the credit because he continues to get better, and he’s still young.”

In just over 24 hours, Siakam put together the best two-game stretch of his NBA career. One of the few bright spots in Monday’s loss to Milwaukee, Toronto’s first defeat of the young season, Siakam scored a career-high 22 points. The following night he poured in 15 to go along with a personal-best 15 rebounds against the 76ers. He scored nine of his points in the second half, including one of the biggest buckets of the game.

With just over two minutes remaining and Philly still hanging around, Kawhi Leonard poked the ball away from Ben Simmons – one of the reigning Rookie of the Year’s 11 turnovers. At the time of Leonard’s steal, just outside the three-point arc in the backcourt, Siakam was well behind him, still inside of the paint. In fact, eight of the other nine players were between him and the Raptors’ bucket, with only Dario Saric trailing. Siakam covered 73 feet in four seconds to collect the bounce-pass from Leonard and finish the play with a lay-up.

Over that two-game span, he missed all five of his three-point attempts, but shot a remarkable 16-for-19 inside the arc, also recording seven steals and 23 rebounds.

“He’s great,” Jonas Valanciunas said. “He’s playing with a lot of energy. He’s playing with a lot of skills. He’s P-Skills. He’s handling the ball. Sometimes I don’t know, he’s trailing, he’s handling, I get confused because he’s all over the place. It’s good. He’s just enjoying playing basketball.”

Even on a team with plenty of early-season storylines worth talking about, including the hot starts of Leonard and Lowry, Siakam is turning heads around the league. He’s quickly becoming the archetype for the modern NBA forward – a guy that can defend or switch onto all five positions, grab a rebound and go coast-to-coast, and initiate the offence, making plays for himself or his teammates. Now, the player he’s compared to most often – by fans, media or other players and coaches alike – is Warriors all-star Draymond Green. That’s high praise, to be sure, but as time goes on it’s sounding less and less outlandish. Many believe he’s a three-point shot away from growing into an all-star himself, but that might be his trajectory regardless.

Even as opposing teams continue to give Siakam a ton of space on the perimeter, daring him to shoot, he’s finding ways to make them pay. How is he doing it? After Tuesday’s win over Philly, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse referenced Simmons, the Sixers’ star guard, who hasn’t even attempted a three this season but uses his unique combination of size, speed, awareness and handle to break down the defence. The same can be said for Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 28 per cent career three-point shooter, who’s just 1-of-16 from long distance to start the season. Even Green has only shot the three-ball at a 30 per cent clip over the last three years.

“People stay back and he’s absorbing all that space with some speed and some ball-handling skill,” Nurse said of Siakam. “He’s almost getting a head of steam without anybody holding him up, similar to [Simmons].”

“Just being able to move,” Siakam said. “Having the ball in my hands and being able to handle also helps. And the guys trusting me to have the ball in my hands and do different things so I can find ways to score and ways to dish for an assist. It’s just picking my spots and finding a way to have an impact.”

If you’re surprised by Siakam’s early-season breakout you probably weren’t paying attention this summer. The Raptors’ forward spent most of the off-season training in Los Angeles, where he was a regular participant in Rico Hines’ famed UCLA runs with some of the NBA’s best players. He and many of Toronto’s other young players scrimmaged with the likes of Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Chris Paul, among others.

“Pascal was in the gym more than anybody else this past summer,” Hines told TSN Radio earlier this fall. “He lived in there. Obviously the guys like Chris Paul and James Harden and Paul George, everybody loves him. I mean everybody loves him. And they say to me, ‘Rico, man, that guy, he’s gotten so much better.’ They love his game and they love his spirit because he plays so doggone hard, and he loves being on the basketball court and does a lot of great things.”

As the season progresses, Siakam’s next step is to improve his decision making, especially in transition, which should come with more experience handling the ball. The Raptors are encouraging him to bring the ball up after grabbing a defensive rebound. It’s something he’s been doing with some success, but also requires him to pick his spots. For instance, Siakam was leading a 3-on-1 break in the first half of Tuesday’s game. Instead of deferring to Lowry, the league leader in assists, who was running with him, he tossed the ball ahead, leading to a costly turnover. As for the jumper, it’s unlikely Siakam will ever be an elite three-point shooter, which is fine, but even creeping closer to league average should be the goal over time.

Thanks in large part to the pace he plays at, Siakam is prone to the occasional error. But, in coach speak, his mistakes are well intentioned and usually come as a result of going too fast or trying to do too much. You can live with those from a young player, and now, far more than in his rookie year, he’s earned the right to play through those miscues.

Siakam has only logged more than 30 minutes nine times as an NBA player, but a third of them have come in the last three games, including a career-high 37 against Dallas last Friday. He’s started all but one game so far this season. OG Anunoby, who started for him in Washington earlier this month, was expected to be the starter at power forward entering camp. The sophomore has been away from the team on an excused personal leave, missing most of the pre-season and then the last three games, leading to Siakam’s increased playing time.

Anunoby will see significant minutes at the forward positions when he returns, and while Nurse has indicated the non-Leonard and Lowry starting spots could remain fluid, it’s hard to see Siakam losing the gig as long as he and that unit continue playing well. That first unit with Valanciunas at centre has started two games and played 39 minutes together – they rank second in net rating among the NBA’s 37 five-man lineups that have shared the floor for at least 35 minutes. The first unit with Ibaka has started four games and logged 79 minutes together – they rank fourth.

The Raptors are deep and Nurse has plenty of options, but few have Siakam’s tantalizing upside. Once again, Siakam is a starter, only this time it’s not by necessity, it’s by merit.