Fred VanVleet Says Pascal Siakam is Playing at an 'All-NBA Level'

The Toronto Raptors have seen Pascal Siakam revert back to his All-NBA form and with a little more winning it'll be hard to keep him off All-NBA ballots

Aaron Rose | Jan 31, 2022

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Who are the top six forwards in the NBA?

We'll put the vagaries of NBA positions aside for a moment and try to keep things simple. Just go with your gut instinct. I'll give you some help: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, who we'll call a forward because he's, well, a forward. Who is sixth?

After missing the first 10 games of the season due to offseason shoulder surgery, Pascal Siakam has suddenly thrust himself into the conversation not just for a spot on the All-Star team, but quite possibly a spot on the All-NBA team. It's early, of course, but it's hard to argue that the former All-NBA second teamer isn't at the very least in the mix.

Let's take a look at some numbers for the Toronto Raptors star forward. Here's a list of players averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists this season:

Name	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Nikola Jokic	26.0	13.7	7.8
Giannis Antetokounmpo	28.8	11.2	6.8
Luka Doncic	25.6	8.9	8.9
James Harden	23.0	8.4	10.1
Pascal Siakam	21.0	8.1	5.2

Or how about we just add up points, rebounds, and assists for all the forwards in the league.

Name	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Total
Giannis Antetokounmpo	28.8	11.2	5.8	45.8
LeBron James	29.1	7.7	6.3	43.1
Kevin Durant	29.3	7.4	5.8	42.5
Jayson Tatum	26.2	8.4	4	38.6
DeMar DeRozan	26.4	5	5	36.4
Jimmy Butler	22	6.3	6.3	34.6
Pascal Siakam	21	5.2	5.2	34.1

"He’s been at an All-NBA level," said Siakam's Raptors teammate Fred VanVleet. "I’m watching him everyday, I’m watching him in practice, I’m watching him in shootaround, I’m watching him in the games, he’s been at an All-NBA level for a while now."

Siakam is actually having a better season this year than in his 2019-20 All-NBA year. His scoring is about the same (21 points this year compared to 22.9 three years ago) and his assists, rebounds, steals, and field goal percentages have all improved.

"He’s just gotten better," VanVleet said. "He hit his roadblock but he got through. He’s on the other side of it now, he’s playing the best basketball of his career."

The big difference between this season and that All-NBA season is the winning. The Raptors were 51-21 (.708) when the 2019-20 season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Toronto is 24-23 (.511) as of Monday. That traditionally isn't good enough to cut it for All-NBA.

That's why Siakam's All-NBA case rests partially on his ability to continue to carry the workload he has shoulder this season and partially on the rest of the roster's ability to support him. If the Raptors can go on a run in the second half of the season and jump from the play-in picture to the playoff picture, it'll be tough for anyone to keep Siakam off their All-NBA ballot when the season comes to an end.

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