NBA All-Star Weekend is underway and former Toronto Raptors champion Pascal Siakam is making his third appearance.
Siakam’s first two All-Star nods came with the Raptors as he became an emerging star. Notably during the 2018-19 season, he formed a two-headed monster with Kawhi Leonard.
Granted there were the likes of Fred VanVleet, O.G. Anunoby, Danny Green, Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol as well. But, Leonard and Siakam were two noteworthy scoring options for Toronto in the playoffs.
Despite not making an All-Star appearance that season, it set up Siakam to have a great follow-up season after Leonard’s departure.
With All-Star Weekend taking place in San Francisco, Siakam got a chance to relive memories from the 2019 NBA Finals. Now that the Warriors left Oracle Arena, Siakam detailed the final shot he hit in that iconic arena to clinch the 2019 NBA Championship for Toronto, via hello and welcome podcast:
“Kyle [Lowry] passing to me and then Draymond [Green] kinda reached, eurostep, floater. That was a great shot.”
To score the final bucket in an area that meant a ton to Warriors fans is an impressive feat. Especially having that floater being what sealed a championship for the Raptors.
That championship team is going to remembered for going all in on bringing in a one-year rental with the hopes of getting a title. Nowadays, opposing general managers are reluctant to give up assets given this new CBA.
But, Toronto saw an opportunity and seized it with Leonard. Ideally, Leonard would have re-signed with the organization, but at the end of the day, a championship was won.
B/R re-grades Pascal Siakam & O.G. Anunoby trades
Pascal Siakam solidified his legacy with the Raptors by being a part of the 2019 championship team. However, time eventually ran its course and the Raptors moved on from him.
The Raptors not only traded Siakam, but O.G. Anunoby too. Bleacher Report reflected on those two deals and re-graded them over a year later.
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