Photo credit: KarynStepien.com
The Toronto Raptors have recalled Pascal Siakam from Raptors 905 of the D-League, the team announced Wednesday.
Recalling Siakam is a change of course for the Raptors, who intended for the freshman to stay with the 905 through their four-game road trip that concludes Saturday. Instead, Siakam will have to jump off course from Grand Rapids to meet the team in Miami for Thursday’s game (the Raptors are not practicing Wednesday).
This is, quite clearly, an insurance move to protect the team’s depth in the likely event that Serge Ibaka is suspended. Ibaka and Robin Lopez exchanged punches and received technical fouls and ejections for fighting. Both are looking at supplementary discipline from the NBA, but with recent precedent somewhat conflicting, it’s difficult to nail down an expectation. The guess here is that Ibaka gets three games, but some members of the organization were hopeful Monday that he may get away with just two.
Word on suspensions should come down today, as the Bulls are in action later.
Siakam has spent the last two games with the 905 and appeared in three games for them since March 13. His three outings last week earned him D-League Performer of the Week honors, a fitting reminder that while he was over-extended as a full-time starting power forward in his rookie season, there’s still plenty to like with Siakam. Most notably, he’s hit 5-of-6 on threes over his last three D-League games, a welcome addition to his post game and scoring in transition. He’s also been strong defensively, switching to help cover multiple positions and acting as a deterrent at the rim.
At the NBA level, Siakam has averaged 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.9 minutes over 52 appearances. He probably doesn’t figure to see that large a role with Ibaka out, as Patrick Patterson showed a return to form Tuesday and the Raptors have plenty of options going small with P.J. Tucker and DeMarre Carroll in the mix. The big winner here in terms of playing time could be Jakob Poeltl or even Lucas Nogueira, as traditional backup center minutes are now once again (theoretically) available. Siakam could conceivably start, too, and play smaller minutes as he had late in his starting tenure, that way the second unit remains in tact.
In any case, having Siakam around for depth and, potentially, as a spark of energy, won’t hurt, and his play in the D-League should help if he finds himself on the floor.
