Pascal Siakam changed his step without losing one

As promised, Samson Folk, who covered the entire playoff run for the Pacers with me last season, will be contributing his outside perspective on the team throughout their 2024-25 campaign. Of course, given that his main gig is working as a credentialed writer in Toronto, this first subject obviously hits close to home and should arguably be viewed, at least in my (editorial) opinion, as more of an inside perspective. Enjoy reading his words again! 

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

For Basketball, She Wrote podcast listeners who heard me dub this version of the Pacers as “bizarro” about a week ago, well it largely still sticks. Copious amounts of theories and speculation have come up. It’s never good when the dialogue leaves the court. The team is playing differently, performances look different (worse, they look worse) and even the things that have gone well, have gone well in such a way that it still looks unfamiliar to me. I have covered, up close and in person, somewhat dysfunctional teams (I covered Nick Nurse coached teams, so that’s a given) and dysfunction can look a lot of ways, but it rarely looks good. The pulse of the Pacers – when they stopped into Toronto and I got to see them up close – was faint, and let’s say, syncopated.  

With the exception of his potential breakthrough performance against the Pelicans on Monday, the easiest answer for some of the differences in Indiana are related to Tyrese Haliburton’s play. He’s been a different level of player, flat out. The reasoning seems pretty simple from my (outside) perspective. His burst for much of the season has looked slower, his mobility has looked limited, and these things coincide with a string of injuries, and injuries that have a history of lingering. So, to me the outsider, my guess is that Haliburton has been playing through stuff. Players do this all the time. Former Pacer and current Raptor, Bruce Brown candidly shared the other day, that last season he was “literally playing on one leg” prior to his surgery. When players inexplicably look much worse, the answer is usually somewhere in the body. I’ve expressed skepticism about some of Haliburton’s driving game in the past, but his shot/touch is iron clad. For its efficacy to change the way it had to start the season, the reasoning seems to point one way. 

Regardless of what it is/was and whether the nine threes he drilled against the Pelicans will turn out to be a turning point, what Haliburton needs is unflinching support from his organization and his teammates - which Pascal Siakam is willing to give. 

“For me, I’ve been through a lot of times where I felt like it was tough.” Siakam said after the Pacers win vs. the Wizards. “For him, if this is his (Tyrese) tough times it’s a lot better than some of the times I had to go through.” Siakam could be seen encouraging Haliburton on the court after the win. “For me, I just want to tell him that, obviously first, we’re all with him. It’s not on him. He doesn’t have to feel like all this is on him. It’s on all of us. We’re not playing well as a team. It’s not on Ty.” 

I know a lot of this stuff will seem like a retread, but part of my value at Caitlin’s publication is to provide this outside perspective, and all the Haliburton stuff requires commentary. But, enough about Haliburton, we have to talk about the Pacers best player this season: Pascal Siakam.

The aforementioned “even the things that have gone well, have gone well in such a way that it still looks unfamiliar to me”, that is in regards to Siakam. Siakam, who tweaked his free throw form to drop the guide hand away and is seeing great results. Siakam, who is cocking and flattening his wrist far more on 3-point attempts and seeing great results. Siakam, who is driving the basketball less than Caleb Martin who is coming off the bench for the 76ers. Siakam, who is driving the ball at roughly the same rate as Jake LaRavia. Once upon a time, Caitlin described Siakam’s process as a sheet of paper working its way through a crack in the door, and as good as Siakam has been at scoring expertly and efficiently this season, the directive to create in that way hasn’t been present.

In the 2022 playoffs, Siakam drove the ball a robust 19 times a game (3rd most in the playoffs) and drove the Raptors offense by himself. In 2024 with the Pacers during the ECF run he drove roughly 8 times a game as he adapted to the Pacers and moved to a different approach. Drives have become post-ups, and a Siakam post-up was statistically the most efficient play in the 2024 NBA playoffs. 

It’s unique to see a player's game change so rapidly while still maintaining that effectiveness. He has always been a tinkerer, and covering his career is covering a man who never fails to add something new. All this to say, Siakam is no longer vibrating his atoms to phase through the defense and collecting them on the other side. At this point it might be more accurate to say – if we’re returning to the door metaphor, metadoor – that Siakam is like a locksmith carrying his tools to the door, his slick know-how, and simply opening the damn thing. 

In this locksmith role however, the volume is lower. It’s been four full seasons since he’s scored this little and assisted this little. His usage-percentage is closer now to the season he played 3rd fiddle behind Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry than it is to any season that followed for Siakam. His true-shooting is also at 64-percent and it’s not as if the Pacers aren’t clever in how they use him. Empty-side twirl actions with Haliburton to create easy pocket pass layups, flex screens with (yes, Haliburton again) to free him up on cuts to the rim – he did this a lot with Fred VanVleet as well – and copious post-entries that were covered by Caitlin. Hell, Synergy even has Siakam as 7-9 on pick and pop threes so far this season. 

Siakam, per Synergy, has basically been excellent in every single playtype this season, save for pick n’ roll ball handling (he never figured out the cadence of the hang dribble/pocket pass, never got comfortable in the pacing of it all). Post-up? Yes, please. Siakam will point for the ball to reverse to Haliburton before he attacks his mismatch so the defense has less time to react. Slip screens? Sure, wiggle loose to head downhill on the catch. He makes everything in transition and has for awhile, he’s been dynamite finishing off cuts. 

I’ve wondered for, basically this whole season, whether the Pacers should recognize this elite scoring and lean much harder into it. To ask heavy usage of Siakam, especially when we’ve all watched Haliburton struggle to start the season. I don’t think they should, though. I reckon the usage will lift over the course of the season, and organically, but the metamorphosis is complete at this point. Siakam acquiesced to the Pacers style on offense, and gave full buy-in. The mammoth shot creator, who has basically been in the 90th-percentile and above in unassisted buckets for forwards and bigs, has finally settled into the 70th. 

Siakam was a player who attacked without a plan, and rescued himself for years with his elite athleticism and touch. Now, he plans his attacks and executes with finesse. The Pacers were in his plans, and it seems he believes in theirs. He’s been their best player so far, but the plans say that won’t remain the case forever, and it’s better that way. It gives the Pacers a better chance to ditch the syncopated pulse in favor of some rhythm.