Pascal Siakam on Tuesday night scored six points and grabbed three rebounds to help the Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards in game two of an Eastern Conference first round playoff series.
Siakam is a 6-foot-9, 230-pound power forward in his second NBA season. In spring 2016, the then-sophomore at New Mexico State declared for the draft, taking advantage of a new rule that allowed college players to test the professional waters before deciding on the next step in their career.
“He was probably projected as a second round pick,” ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony said, “and then goes into the combine, performs really well and ends up earning a spot in the last first round.