This season has been a rough one for the Indiana Pacers. With only a few games left on the schedule, they are 18-61 and own the second-worst record in the league. Injuries have been running wild all year (and that's not even factoring in Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles tear, which sidelined him for the whole year), and the team has struggled to produce on both sides of the ball for nearly the entire season.
But if there's one silver lining Pacers fans can be happy with, it's that Pascal Siakam stepped up all season, reminded the basketball world how dominant he can still be, and proved to everyone (not that it was much of a question before) that he is going to be a big part of their plans to re-enter the title picture next season and become a legitimate powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
Pascal Siakam is key to the Pacers' success moving forward
In 62 games this season, Siakam has averaged 24 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 48.4% from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc. He was named an All-Star for the fourth time in his career and was far and away Indiana's best player all season.
The Pacers acquired Siakam from the Toronto Raptors in hopes that he would elevate them to title contention, and he has done exactly that. They don't make it to the conference finals in 2024 without him. They also don't make it back or to the NBA finals last year without him (remember, he averaged 24.8 PPG, 5 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.3 SPG while shooting 52.4 FG% from the field and 50% from deep en route to winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award against the New York Knicks in 2025).
Siakam has championship experience, winning a title with the Raptors in 2019, and it shows. He is incredibly consistent, steps up when needed while also being the perfect sidekick to Haliburton, is a leader on and off the court, and elevates the team in every area of the game.
The Cameroon native has been crucial to the team's success these past couple of seasons, and he will continue to play a big role moving forward.
This season was all about experimentation for the Pacers and seeing who could step up in expanded roles. And perhaps the biggest individual winner was Siakam, whose role definitely didn't change as much as someone like Andrew Nembhard's did, but he still made the most of it and stepped up in a big way.
And that is exactly what the team needed to see during a lost season like this one.