Pascal Siakam, or Spicy P, was an example of the Raptors’ player development and scouting at its best, Bruce Arthur writes.
Pascal Siakam is one of the greatest Raptors, and one of the greatest basketball stories, but he is more than that, too.
He is more than a 27th overall pick from Cameroon who didn’t pick up basketball until he was 17, and who hit the biggest shot against a former defensive player of the year in a championship-clinching game at 25. He is more than a two-time all-star, and a two-time all-NBA player, who defied the usual curve of NBA improvement.
“Wherever that ceiling is,” he used to say, “I’m going to get to that.”
Through all kinds of weather, Pascal has always tried.
No, Siakam has been an example of this Raptors organization at its best. Talent identification, player development, shared values and personal drive. Fred VanVleet was the other example, of course, and Toronto doesn’t win the 2019 title without them. Those two were a big part of what made Masai Ujiri’s Raptors what they were.
What the Raptors are now is something different, and it’s not over yet. Toronto traded Siakam to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday for three first-round picks and salary fodder — veteran wing Bruce Brown and wing Jordan Nwora, plus point guard Kira Lewis from New Orleans.
The picks are Indiana’s this season and a later first beyond that, and an Indiana first in 2026; none of them are earthmoving assets. Lewis has shown some per-minute flashes, but has been buried on that team. He’s a reclamation job, at 22. Nwora too.
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