piece of the Pacers puzzle
With OG Anunoby gone, it was only a matter of time before Pascal Siakam’s move was officially announced. The Raptors, the official sellers in this transfer market, have gotten rid of the last two pieces of memorabilia from the 2019 ring and are already looking to the future around Scotty Barnes. Anunoby has already shown in 20 days that he is a good fit in New York; Now it’s Siakam’s turn to prove that coming to Indiana is the right decision for the Pacers, who are looking for the perfect Robin for Cameroonian Tyrese Haliburton. And they have reason to believe that Siakam is the one who can take them to the next level.
Pascal is undoubtedly the top transfer player and is easily the second best player on Indiana’s roster. The Pacers find in Pascal Siakam, a two-time NBA champion, two-time All-Star and 2019 champion, the offensive model they never had, a dance partner for Tyrese Haliburton. That doesn’t solve the Pacers’ defensive woes, which, while not exacerbated with Siakam just because of size and size, have shown signs of unrest in recent weeks.
Siakam ranks in the NBA’s top 10 in transition points (5.7), where the Raptors were the top team ahead of Indiana, and in fast-break shooting percentage (67.2%). He will now play alongside point guard Haliburton, who leads the NBA in assists. But most of all, the connection between Siakam and Haliburton will be one of space and resources. Indiana leads the league in layups and dunks, under-the-rim shots where Siakam is posting the best numbers of his career. Under Carlisle’s tutelage and Haliburton’s play, he may find a version never seen before thanks to the maturity and context of his departure from Toronto, and the Pacers made a bet on him in the first three rounds because of arguments like his efficiency and ability to do things. , which he has already done. They are the elite.
Of course, there are also those against it. Indiana ranks in the top 10 in the NBA in three-point percentage, field goal percentage and three-point percentage, and is one of the most efficient teams in the league from long range. A third of the Pacers’ points come from three-pointers, and in Siakam they find a player who shoots an abysmal 31.7% and whose career percentage is under 33%. Although, the only two seasons above 35% were when Pascal Siakam was the team’s second and third man and the defensive focus was on Kawhi Leonard or Kyle Lowry. He’s also shot an astonishing 54.1% in his last nine games since O.G. Anunoby, with a point guard like Quickley and a much faster pace of play, the style that Indiana offers.
Many of the problems in Toronto were contextual. A team built without space in the paint before Poeltl’s arrival and without a clear generation after Fred VanVleet’s departure, where Siakam’s style of play matched Scottie Barnes’s, presented a challenge to compete and develop. In Indiana, he will now have the opportunity to play in a new system where the defensive pressure will fall on another player surrounded by shooting threats. There is a real possibility of seeing a new and improved Pascal Siakam, although there are concerns that he will be too similar to Myles Turner in what Indiana could use him for, only better.
It’s true that with Pascal, Indiana gets an alternative to Haliburton when the point guard is benched or injured, a player capable of creating his own glasses in a variety of shapes and colors. Siakam is averaging 0.97 points per possession on the run, Indiana’s weakest offensive line, and 1.05 in the post game, where Indiana ranks among the top 10 teams with the fewest shots and shoots 78.9 percent from the floor. The elbow is a tool they haven’t used in Indiana this season. But for Siakam to make an impact, he’ll need to do what he does best: slow down, ask for the ball and work in the post, which isn’t necessarily helpful for Rick Carlisle’s offense, which relies on his ball-pacing and passing. the ball through Haliburton’s hands.
Because while the Pacers have the best offense of the season and NBA history, their offense is down to average, going from having the best effective shooting percentage to seventh. Indiana wins because it plays with a unique style, and it’s reasonable to assume that if that changes, the numbers could suffer. One that highlights Haliburton’s strengths and one that Siakam could fit in well despite his shooting shortcomings. But despite the improvement in Haliburton and Siakam, they are not at a good enough level to compete for the East. Milwaukee, Philadelphia and especially Boston remain at least a notch above, while Orlando, New York, Cleveland and Miami pose real threats to fourth place.
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