"Off the charts": Kyrie Irving has high praise for Raptors' Pascal Siakam

When asked what his goals for this year’s season are, Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam was pretty clear: he wanted to reach the upper echelon of NBA stardom.

“I’ve been All-NBA; I’ve been an All-Star. I want to be a top-5 player in the league,” Siakam told reporters earlier this year on media day. “I want to be one of the best, and I’ll do everything I can to work towards that.”

Last night, Siakam had a triple-double with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against the Nets, an ultimate 109-105 win for Brooklyn.

Nets star point guard Kyrie Irving has been taking notice — and he doesn’t think he’s the only one. Siakam’s skillset was well on display on Twitter and Instagram this summer, with Raptors player development coach Rico Hines’ famed pickup games often serving as the source of the workout footage.

Siakam has averaged 30.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and six assists through two games this season for the Raptors. Sure, it’s early, but it appears that his intense offseason workouts have been paying off.

“You’re on social media, right? We all saw as many Spicy P clips at Rico Hines runs as we could possibly see, just as a hooper watching at home, I definitely felt his presence this summer around Los Angeles,” Irving said in response to a question asked by Daily Hive following the game. “[Siakam] was putting in a lot of work, and it’s showing for itself. He’s going to continue to get better. This team is a well-oiled machine. This guy was off the charts.”

Kyrie Irving was VERY complimentary of Pascal Siakam (for good reason) pic.twitter.com/actrmxYgwY

— Bradshaw (@omgbradshaw) October 22, 2022

And while Siakam has put up a triple-double (minimum 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists) just four times in his career, Irving is predicting it’ll become more common with his role as the focal point of Toronto’s offence this year.

“I think a triple-double is probably going to happen most nights, I’m not saying he’s going to average a triple-double, but he’s capable of being a triple-double guy,” Irving added. “Just how many pieces they have, and how well they play through him, it’s good to go against him, but I’m glad we got the win tonight.”

Irving wasn’t the only Nets star complimenting the Raptors, though: Kevin Durant was also moved by Toronto rookie Christian Koloko wearing No. 35 in his honour.

” I always appreciate stuff like that. You never know who’s watching you when you’re out there doing your thing,” Durant said.

The Raptors are in Miami tonight for a 5 pm PT/ 8 pm ET tipoff against the Heat. They’ll next take on Irving, Durant, and the Nets on November 23, when they host Brooklyn at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

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