In an unbroken span of about eighteen minutes, Pascal Siakam dropped in twenty points to turn a game that was already a serious blowout into an even seriouser blowout. In doing so, he gave us a tantalizing vision of what the Raptors would look like in a post-Kawhi world where Siakam is the number one option whenever he’s on the court. And I have to say, the vision was so tantalizing that even I was tantalized. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the mythological Greek king Tantalus would have been tantalized by Siakam’s sick scoring displays.
Let’s be real here. We all know that Kawhi is going to the Clippers. That’s both sad news and happy news for Raptors fans, while for the rest of us it’s just another cool new thing that will shake up the league and shift the balances of power league-wide. Raptors fans will be sad to see Kawhi go away after he led them to the ECF Conference Finals (even if it was really Siakam leading them), but they’ll be happy because a Kawhi-less future is also a future where Siakam’s potential is fully realized. Kind of like how Jabari Parker had to leave the Bucks before Giannis blossomed from a run-of-the-mill All-Star to an MVP candidate.
I’m not saying that Siakam is going to be an MVP candidate anytime soon. Or am I? You see it all the time where players are given the reins of a franchise and take full advantage for both their own personal stats and the success of the team. You also see the opposite all the time, where a player is given those same reins but they guide the horse off the track and into four lanes of oncoming highway traffic. I’m pretty sure Siakam’s going to keep the horse on track. And be an All-Star. And laugh at Kawhi for running to the conference with all the superstars in it while Siakam gets free conference finals appearances for the next decade straight.