Last season's Most Improved Player continues to impress in his young professional career. Through five games for the Toronto Raptors, power forward Pascal Siakam is the only top-20 scorer in the NBA with 50/40/90 shooting splits (h/t Reddit).
The 25-year-old Cameroonian impressed at a national scale during the 2019 NBA Finals, where the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games. However, he gets to be essentially the No. 1 option for Toronto after the departure of Kawhi Leonard.
Notably, Leonard left the champion Raptors in free agency after winning his second Finals MVP trophy, choosing to compete for the Western Conference's Los Angeles Clippers and team up with All-Star forward Paul George.
Article Continues BelowWith Leonard gone, much of the Raptors' core remained, including Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet.
It's now up to the young Siakam to continue his great performance and turn into a star in the league. The 6-foot-9 forward signed a massive contract extension with the Canadian franchise before the end of October — a four-year, near-$130 million deal.
In order for Siakam to do that, putting up numbers like his early season ones this year will be a must. He is averaging 28.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 33.6 minutes through five contests while shooting 51.0 percent from the floor, 44.4 percent from 3-point range and 96.3 percent from the free throw line.