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Pascal Siakam Rumors
NBA all-star Pascal Siakam visited Gagetown, N.B., students and received an honourary doctorate on Wednesday. The 2019 NBA Champion with the Toronto Raptors was in town for a celebration of Data Dunkers, which is described as an innovative basketball and data science learning experience for students in Grades 5-to-12. The program focuses on activities which are designed to help students learn how to find the meaning in data, particularly by using data that is openly available from the NBA and WNBA.
Siakam is a partner for the program through his foundation PS43. The foundation aims to make a difference in the lives of children through education. “Technology is the future,” Siakam told reporters Wednesday. “We just want to continue to empower kids through technology and through education. For us this was the perfect way to do it, basketball and data together, that’s a perfect marriage.”
The Raptors, who traded away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby during the 2023/24 season, have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, but the expectation is that they’ll be more competitive going forward, per Fischer. “The Raptors have definitely been given some type of formal pressure, some type of direction from their new leadership of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to end this sort of rebuild era they’ve been in,” Fischer said, adding that the team will be aiming to claim a top-six playoff spot this season, not simply make the play-in tournament.
Former Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam certainly made sure the visitors to one fast food spot would never forget their meal. On a recent trip to Grenada, Siakam decided he was in the mood for the local Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, and chose to pay for everyone else's meal in line as well. "We don't want attention," Siakam said, perhaps somewhat ironically, in a clip he uploaded to his social media channels. "They're saying the Caribbean KFC is different, so I'm trying to see what it's about."
Quick Overview Oklahoma City won the physicality on a game by game basis 4-3. They also took the "playing hard energy" wins by the same 4-3 margin. The team with the better Physicality score was 5-2, while the team with the most "Playing Hard Wins" was 7-0. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all players with 226 Physicality Wins, followed by Pascal Siakam (164), Myles Turner (140), Chet Holmgren (134) and Jalen Williams (132). Siakam led in Net Wins with +33. Hartenstein led in Net Wins per 36 min. Siakam was the top "playing hard energy plays" leader with 63 PH Wins, followed by Caruso (55), Holmgren (52), Haliburton (47), and Nembhard (43). Siakam dominated Jalen Williams Head-to-Head (+19 wins), while Shai was +20 net wins against the five IND starters (only losing H2H to Siakam).
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An example of how Ujiri and Webster differed: it was Ujiri who was resistant to signing Pascal Siakam to an extension in the season prior to him being traded to the Indiana Pacers in January of 2024. Ujiri didn’t want the risk of a long-term deal on his books for a player who he was no longer sure was a fit with Scottie Barnes’ timeline. An injury to Siakam after he signed, or even just a downturn in performance, would have left the Raptors in a difficult situation. But not signing him also meant that they had less control over where Siakam could be traded as he headed into the final year of his contract, likely less leverage for extracting a top price. Webster was in favour of extending Siakam, which would have given the Raptors more control in the trade market if they wanted to go that route, as they would be trading a player under team control for multiple years.
Erik Slater: Asked Noa Essengue if there are any NBA players he studies or models his game after: “I’d say guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Kawhi. They can really do everything on the court. Play defense, dribble, shooting.” pic.x.com/5cWSMsvftS
And importantly, Presti turned down all the offers he must have received for the young players who make the core of his excellent team. Who knows what incredible NBA players he could have received for Chet Holmgren or Jalen Williams. Presti has a hardfought collection of players he likes. I heard from another team that was blown away that Presti wouldn’t even consider offers for tenth-man Kenrich Williams. The Pacers are similar. Rick Carlisle had a vision for Blur Ball and it dang near won them an NBA title. They spent years seeking out the right players to go around Tyrese Haliburton. The Raptors had a system that used Pascal Siakam one way, and they weren’t sure that made him a max player. The Pacers were like we know what do with that guy who never gets tired. The Knicks saw Obi Toppin’s flaws, the Pacers saw a big man who never stopped bouncing around the floor.
Jorge Sierra: FWIW: Pascal Siakam moved up to No. 100 in playoff scoring in NBA history. Passed George Mikan and Rajon Rondo. Tied Dave Cowens.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads OKC to first title in franchise history
Clemente Almanza: FINAL: Thunder 103, Pacers 91 SGA - 29 points, 12 assists JDub - 20 points, 4 rebounds Chet - 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks Siakam - 16 points, 4 rebounds Nembhard - 15 points, 6 assists Mathurin - 24 points, 13 rebounds OKC wins the NBA championship
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Roland Beech: Game 7 Preview — Physicality/Playing Hard Series Summary I tracked all six games so far of the NBA Finals for physicality + hard play effort using the ‘Roland Playing Hard’ framework. It’s not just about who wants it more—it’s how they show it: • Indiana leads 4–2 by game in physicality/effort "wins" • +13 Physicality wins, +49 Playing Hard Effort wins • +33 in Level 2+ force physical plays • 6 of the top 8 effort players are Pacers ...Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Alex Caruso the most "effort wins" TJ McConnell the top in effort wins per 36 minutes Game 7 is Sunday. If Indiana wins, don’t say it’s a fluke—say they out-worked OKC. Full leaderboard + series data coming soon.
Chris Mannix: Pascal Siakam, on what he learned from @Kawhi Leonard: "Being even-keeled. I think Kawhi, no matter what happened, he is always the same. That's something I try to have for me. It's like no matter good or bad, make shots, miss shots, it doesn't really matter. Just be yourself."
What Game 7 brings is not just the drama and finality of one game to win it all, this is also almost pure basketball focused on effort and execution. There is no special adjustment coming, nothing either coach left in their back pocket for this moment. “We’ve played each other enough now, where it’s like, it’s pretty much -- I mean, I don’t think there are any secrets out there when we play,” Pascal Siakam said. “I think it’s just about who wants it more, like just playing hard, and leaving it all out there on the floor and living with the results.”
As he raced back down the court, Haliburton high-fived a few people sitting courtside. “I was so tired after that,” Haliburton said. “I was really hoping they would call a timeout, but we had to get back out on defense. That’s a special moment especially because we are always getting on Pascal for not dunking anymore. That was cool to see. “Honestly, me and Pascal have not spoken about this play yet. I don’t know if we will until this is over. But, definitely a lot of fun, and if we are fortunate enough to go on and win this thing, I think that play will be remembered for a long time.”
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