Even though Pascal Siakam has moved on from Toronto, he will forever exemplify what it means to be a Raptor.
There's a reason he was met with so much love in his return.
Over seven and a half seasons with the franchise, Siakam went from a late-first-round pick to one of the greatest players to ever put on a Raptors uniform. For a franchise that prides itself on player development, it doesn't get any better than Siakam.
To fully appreciate the player Siakam has become, it's important to acknowledge the player he once was. He has checked every box on the path to stardom and skipped no steps.
With Siakam now using his gifts to lift the Pacers to another level of contention, revisit his journey to become the player he is now.
MORE: Where Pascal Siakam ranks among greatest Raptors of all time
Early years
"He's an energy big guy that's got good length and runs the floor." — Jay Bilas, ESPN college basketball and draft analyst.
When the Raptors used the No. 27 overall pick to select Siakam in the 2016 NBA Draft, there was some discussion of whether or not he warranted a first-round selection. ESPN's broadcast had him slated as a second-round pick but Toronto elected to take a high-upside prospect after coming just two wins shy of reaching the NBA Finals.
It took exactly one half of Summer League action for Siakam to show promise as he scored 12 points (on 6-of-10 shooting) in the first 15 minutes of his debut before exiting with a knee injury that would shut him down for the remainder of Summer League. Short-lived as it was, fans caught a glimpse of the vision the Raptors had.
Siakam had an interesting rookie campaign — he started in each of his first 34 NBA games but averaged fewer than 20 minutes per game. For his development, Siakam spent time with Raptors 905 in the then-NBA D-League. He averaged an efficient 18.2 points in five regular-season games before leading the Raptors 905 to the 2017 NBA D-League Championship with Playoff MVP averages of 18.0 points and 7.9 rebounds over seven games.
Siakam's performance as the guy on the developmental stage showed that he could be much more than an energy guy on the NBA level. And while he was a full-time reserve in Year 2, Siakam was a key part of Toronto's vaunted bench mob and averaged 6.6 points over 10 playoff games in 2018 after racking up eight DNP-CDs in 2017.
Then came the leap.
Most Improved
"I want to thank the Raptors for believing in me, a little scrawny kid from Cameroon." — Pascal Siakam at the 2019 NBA Awards Show.
The Raptors' swing to acquire Kawhi Leonard in the 2018 offseason was a calculated risk for multiple reasons. Not only did Toronto bank on Leonard's health, but the franchise also banked on leaps from a second-year player in O.G. Anunoby and two third-year players in Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
To call what Siakam did in Year 3 a leap would be an understatement.
Starting in all but one of the 80 games he appeared in, Siakam improved in every statistical category, averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for a 58-win Raptors team. Once the dust settled from a historic season, Siakam was rightly awarded as the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2018-19 regular season.
And about the dust settling from that historic season...
Long before the NBA awards in July, Siakam, in his third season, was the second option for a championship team.
Over Toronto's 24-game championship run, Siakam averaged 19.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Among notable performances were a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double to steal home court back in the opening round, 32 points in his NBA Finals debut and a team-high tying 26 points in the title-clinching game.
Siakam wasn't just along for the championship ride — Toronto wouldn't have hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy without him. Less than three years after pundits scratched their heads at his first-round billing, Siakam was an influential player throughout a historic championship run.
MORE: Where each member of Raptors' championship team is now
All-Star pedigree
"Wake up every single day, one step at a time and continue to work hard, believe in your work, believe in your dreams and just go out every day." — Pascal Siakam following a bounce-back campaign in 2021-22.
Leonard's decision to leave Toronto as a free agent could have sent the franchise into a spiral, but Siakam's Year 3 leap instilled a level of confidence that the team could still compete at a high level.
But how much better could Siakam get?
Ahead of the season, Siakam was rewarded with a rookie-scale max extension, something that was also given to his draft classmates who were selected in the lottery. The No. 27 pick proved to be just as deserving.
Under the guidance of the Raptors' renowned developmental team, Siakam again made another leap. Despite missing extended time with an injury, Siakam averaged 24.2 points and 7.6 rebounds through his first 30 games and was named a starter in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
Siakam and the Raptors were playing some of their best basketball before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the season — and their momentum — to a screeching halt before things restarted at the Walt Disney World Resort. Siakam never quite got back to his groove but still earned an All-NBA Second Team selection and finished 10th in MVP voting.
During his best moments in 2019-20, Siakam provided an answer to the question of just how good he could be.
Siakam and the Raptors took a step back in 2020-21 and in the process discovered that Kyle Lowry would soon move on. The blow of Lowry's departure was softened by luck in the draft lottery and the fact that Siakam was well-equipped to be the franchise's No. 1 player.
After undergoing shoulder surgery in the 2021 offseason, Siakam returned to an All-NBA level during the 2021-22 season with career-best numbers. Siakam missed out on an All-Star selection in 2022 but managed to lead Toronto to 48 wins as the franchise player and earned an All-NBA Third Team selection for his work.
Siakam's final full season as a Raptor saw him pick up a second All-Star selection, bolstering his resume and further illustrating how he was the model of player development. In just under eight seasons, it became routine for him to outdo what was expected, set the bar even higher and then outdo what was expected of him again.
There have been many success stories from the Raptors' player development system but none are greater than Siakam. For that reason, he'll always hold a particularly special place in Raptors lore.
