I won’t lie, I thought his contract was a bad idea. Not because Pascal Siakam was isn’t a great player, but because I thought it was too soon. My plan would have been to give him a good contract for a year or two and then offer the max for him. But I was wrong. Siakam heard what I was thinking and was like “Yeah, okay buddy, watch this.” Then exploded onto the scene with amazing production to prove he deserves every penny. In a way, Raptor fans should be thanking me, because if I didn’t doubt Spicy P, this would have never happened. No? Not buying it? Okay, that’s fair.
Pascal Siakam Stats
Every year that Pascal Siakam has been in the league, he has improved exponentially. Stat-wise and skill-wise. Skill-wise you can see his moves and offensive skill set evolving every year and it is a beautiful thing to see. As for stats, I would like to take it year by year to actually show how much he has improved over the years. Siakam as a rookie only averaged 4.2 points, 3.4, and *squints* 0.3 assists per game in 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, that is definitely underperforming, even if you are a rookie. As I said, every year he has improved though. In his second year, he averaged 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game in 20 minutes. There was a little improvement from in one year. You could credit that to the increase in minutes, but hey, improvement is an improvement.
Now, this is where it gets scary. In his 3rd NBA season, Siakam averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game in 32 minutes. Wow, what a jump in stats. a 9.6 jump in points per game will turn anyone’s head. Which it did, as he won Most Improved Player in the NBA in 2019. He was obviously a big part of the Raptors Championship run as well. This was enough for him to earn his 4-year 130 million contract. Now, he has silenced me and other critics of his then premature contract with his 25.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in 34 minutes stat line.
The guy is showing that he deserves every penny of his contract if he is already averaging these kinds of numbers. The scary part is that he still has so much room to grow his offensive game. He is one of the most underrated players in the NBA today and it wouldn’t surprise me if he earns the title of a superstar in the league in the next couple years. Hell, at the rate he is going at, he will be averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds a game next year. Spicy P is a hooper, give him the respect that he so rightfully deserves.
