What player makes the most Siakam-like jump in 2019-2020

[LoveTheNBA23]

Kyle Kuzma.

He already looks stronger/bigger. His FIBA play was encouraging and he looks more explosive already.

Needs to have that defense and 3 point shooting translate to the NBA. But playing next to Bron and AD is going to open up things for him.

[Capn'O]

Blazer fans are hoping it's Zach Collins and/or Anfernee Simons. They'll have the opportunities but they are still really young; Siakam was 3 years older when he had his 'jump'

maybe Jaren Jackson although it's harder to improve on 14 & 5. How about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

I can't see Collins jumping. He just seems solid. Simons really could but his time will still be limited, barring major injury.

[TheRealKaboom]

Kyle Kuzma.

He already looks stronger/bigger. His FIBA play was encouraging and he looks more explosive already.

Needs to have that defense and 3 point shooting translate to the NBA. But playing next to Bron and AD is going to open up things for him.

What exactly was encouraging about his FIBA play?

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[TheRealKaboom]

Dante Exum. He is finally going to have a healthy year and put it all together. He was suddenly looking like "finally fulfilling his potential" last season before he was injured yet again. Not throwing his name in just because he plays for the Jazz - I think he is poised for a breakout.

Which of the two is being benched in order for Exum to break out? Mitchell or Conley?

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[Jabroni Lames]

The man who trains Pascal Siakam in the off-season is picking Thomas Bryant as the next one. He is definitely looking good...

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[iLLmatic860]

Frank Kntilikina

[The_Hater]

Kyle Kuzma.

He already looks stronger/bigger. His FIBA play was encouraging and he looks more explosive already.

Needs to have that defense and 3 point shooting translate to the NBA. But playing next to Bron and AD is going to open up things for him.

I like Kuzma but I just can’t see this. Kuzma’s mpg are likely going to take a huge hit. He’s not going to get 33 mpg again with AD starting at his PF position, Lebron also capable of playing his PF position and 2 rim-protecting Centers on the roster pushing AD into even more PF minutes. It’s not his fault that AD doesn’t want to play Center full time so I just see him much closer to 22 mpg then 33.

[gorz]

Anfernee SImons-could put up big #s if given the opportunity not sure he will get that much time unless dame or cj gets injured.

Justise Winslow or Derrick Jones jr?

[bon]

The thing about Siakam was that for those who followed his NBA journey from the start, this wasn't entirely out of the blue. He shredded the D-League playing exactly the way he did last year, it's just that he never had his shot until last season. But even then the season before he showed shades of it being an integral part of those Raptors bench squads that routinely ranked as amongst the best 5 man lineups in the league.

Basically he made tangible improvements to his game, but a lot of his jump was from gaining a lot of confidence in himself and getting a ton of trust from his coaches. A lot of the stuff he showed off already existed.

Next season I'm going with my man Derrick White. He's known mainly for his defense, but not a lot of people realize how skilled overall he is. In the G-League he looked like Bradley Beal. While that was against G-League level players, he showed throughout last year he was capable of pulling off those kinds of performances, and actually managed to do so in the playoffs.

Boiling his MIP season down to just having more confidence is selling him short. You don't improve in every aspect of your game just by believing in yourself a little more. The spot up jumper and the isolation scoring were not in his arsenal at all in previous seasons.

Same goes for Derrick White. If he takes the next step with his game, it'll be because he added more range to his jumper, developed a tighter handle etc.. not mainly because he was "more confident". That confidence and the trust from coaches comes from putting the time in to develop the skills necessary to succeed in your role.

[Kabookalu]

The thing about Siakam was that for those who followed his NBA journey from the start, this wasn't entirely out of the blue. He shredded the D-League playing exactly the way he did last year, it's just that he never had his shot until last season. But even then the season before he showed shades of it being an integral part of those Raptors bench squads that routinely ranked as amongst the best 5 man lineups in the league.

Basically he made tangible improvements to his game, but a lot of his jump was from gaining a lot of confidence in himself and getting a ton of trust from his coaches. A lot of the stuff he showed off already existed.

Next season I'm going with my man Derrick White. He's known mainly for his defense, but not a lot of people realize how skilled overall he is. In the G-League he looked like Bradley Beal. While that was against G-League level players, he showed throughout last year he was capable of pulling off those kinds of performances, and actually managed to do so in the playoffs.

Boiling his MIP season down to just having more confidence is selling him short. You don't improve in every aspect of your game just by believing in yourself a little more. The spot up jumper and the isolation scoring were not in his arsenal at all in previous seasons.

Same goes for Derrick White. If he takes the next step with his game, it'll be because he added more range to his jumper, developed a tighter handle etc.. not mainly because he was "more confident". That confidence and the trust from coaches comes from putting the time in to develop the skills necessary to succeed in your role.

I'll give you the spot up jumper, but the ISO scoring was always there. He was taking guys off the dribble and posting people up his rookie year with the 905. And I vehemently disagree on your take, I think you're marginalizing how important self confidence is on a professional level. Being a Raptors fan you should know with Fred VanVleet.

[psimanic1]

Malik Beasley

[FlatearthZorro]

I don’t think anybody does. What Siakam did is incredibly rare, don’t see it happening again next year

I do understand he improved a lot and has't been playing ball for long, but 16 pts is not that crazy. I could see a young guy having that type of season. There are some talented young dudes.

[Cresy06]

Agree about Jonathan Isaac.
Another one is Domantas Sabonis.

Actually Sabonis is a good one. Not because I'm a fan of his, but because of the circumstances:

Siakam was a benchplayer on a good Team and became a full time starter. With his emergance, the Team became better and exceeded expectations.

Sabonis is a benchplayer on a good Team and will be a full time starter next year. I don't think the Pacers will win the Championship but let's hope they can become better as a Team and exceed expectations too.

[The_Hater]

The man who trains Pascal Siakam in the off-season is picking Thomas Bryant as the next one. He is definitely looking good...

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That would be something considering the Lakers cut him less than 12 months ago.

Russell, Randle, Bryant, Nance, Clarkson and Zubac all given away or allowed to walk. Magic Johnson certainly was a master of managing young assets.

[nikster]

I don’t think anybody does. What Siakam did is incredibly rare, don’t see it happening again next year

I do understand he improved a lot and has't been playing ball for long, but 16 pts is not that crazy. I could see a young guy having that type of season. There are some talented young dudes.

He increased his scoring by 10 points per game and by 6.5 points per 36 minutes, while increasing his TS% from average (55%) to elite (63%).

I don’t see that kind of jump happening for anyone this year

[The_Hater]

I don’t think anybody does. What Siakam did is incredibly rare, don’t see it happening again next year

I do understand he improved a lot and has't been playing ball for long, but 16 pts is not that crazy. I could see a young guy having that type of season. There are some talented young dudes.

He increased his scoring by 10 points per game and by 6.5 points per 36 minutes, while increasing his TS% from average (55%) to elite (63%).

I don’t see that kind of jump happening for anyone this year

Exactly. And he improved his defense from above average to near elite as well. He’s become an all-around player with very few weaknesses in his game.

Tracy Macgrady tried to argue last spring that Siakam’s improvement was entirely due to an increase in MPG.

Tracy Macgrady doesn’t know how to read statistics properly.

[3toheadmelo]

Might be this guy here. His potential is through the roof.

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[3toheadmelo]

Blazer fans are hoping it's Zach Collins and/or Anfernee Simons. They'll have the opportunities but they are still really young; Siakam was 3 years older when he had his 'jump'

maybe Jaren Jackson although it's harder to improve on 14 & 5. How about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

I can't see Collins jumping. He just seems solid. Simons really could but his time will still be limited, barring major injury.

One guy I really like on Portland is Skal. I hope he gets an opportunity to show out with Nurkic out.

[3toheadmelo]

He won’t make a Siakam like leap since he’s already good but I think Jamal Murray might have a huge season.

[Marcus]

The man who trains Pascal Siakam in the off-season is picking Thomas Bryant as the next one. He is definitely looking good...

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That's why Tommy boy was my pick too. Wasn't the biggest fan coming out of college but he's made it work with energy and a higher IQ than i gave him credit for.

Also congrats to Rico on the Kings player development gig and they have plenty of young talent for him to make better. He's already had Bags and Buddy out there for his runs and i'm sure he'll have a field day with Harry Giles, De'Aaron, and Boggy.