ItsDanger wrote:Need the counting stats to be considered top 5. Man's got to know his limitations.
This is relevant. The clip at least.
By no means is Gordon a better player than Pascal. Siakam is far more versatile as he can operate out of different roles. In 2019 he was an incredibly switchable defender, a menace in transition, and effective in the half court with pick and pops and dunker spot action. Pascal was primarily a "finisher". If he continued in that role he'd at least be as impactful as Gordon is now in a similar role. But Pascal has gone beyond that as he's developed as a creator. Whether it's his ideal role is a fair debate but he's shown capacity to do so.
It's certainly fair to ask if Gordon is more impactful as a switchable defender operating out of the dunker spot than Pascal is as a lead creator.
It's a little strange to me that people consider Pascal as a 2nd option both in 2019 and now as he's a totally different player. The label is applied with a period. He has aspirations to be a top 5 guy. And it looks like, from how he's developing his game, that this requires him to have the ball. I doubt there'll be a role rewind, at least with this team.
Finishers with secondary/tertiary creation responsibility are just as impactful as anyone not named LeBron or Luka. I think Pascal's ideal role lies somewhere between Anthony Davis and Aaron Gordon rather than Jaylen Brown/Paul George.