Holly MacKenzie - raptors.com
It’s been two weeks since Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam were drafted by the Toronto Raptors. The duo have spent those two weeks eagerly awaiting their first summer league game. The Raptors kick off their 2016 campaign in Las Vegas on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings.
After a couple of days of practice sessions, Raptors summer league head coach Jama Mahlalela has been pleased with what he’s seen from both players.
“It’s [like] day one for them,” Mahlalela said. "They’ve done some individual workouts in the last week since they got drafted, but this is their first time in a Raptors environment.”
Summer league is usually the first opportunity for players to be exposed to how their new team operates. Jumping from college to the NBA is always an adjustment, and practice sessions with the coaching staff are invaluable in helping facilitate the transition.
“This really builds our culture,” Mahlalela said. “Coach Casey talks all the time about how do we build our culture, [and] this is one of the main areas where our young players get a sense of what exactly they need to do [to be successful, and to] understand what expectations are placed on them.”
The Raptors are an especially intriguing team to watch in Vegas this year because their projected starting five for Friday’s game are all names fans will recognize. Joining rookies Poeltl and Siakam, are sophomores Norman Powell and Delon Wright, as well as third-year player Bruno Caboclo. Powell was a breakout star in Vegas last summer, being the sole member of his rookie class to earn a spot on the All-NBA Summer League First Team.
“For our team, we have five guys who are our guys, our picks,” Mahlelela said. “Our job is to push them as hard as we can so they can integrate into our varsity team as we get into the regular season.”
Poeltl has spent the time between the draft and summer league trying to get settled in Toronto. Siakam, who watched draft night in Orlando with his brothers, said he went to LA to work out with Wright, Powell, and Raptors assistant Rex Kalamian. When asked to describe his game for fans who might not yet be familiar, Siakam didn’t hesitate to provide the full scouting report.
“For me, the first thing every team is going to tell you about me is my motor,” Siakam said. “That’s something that’s really big for me. Playing hard every possession, running the floor, playing defence, defend multiple positions and be able to keep a guard in front of me. I think that’s a great skill set to have especially with the way the league is going. Be able to do that, rebound the basketball, block shots, and knock down open shots.”
Mahlalela said both players will need to learn NBA terminology, but he was complimentary of what he’s seen from the rookies so far in practice sessions.
“You look at Jakob, you look at his hands,” Mahlalela said. “Very good hands. Good roller. Big body. He’s going to figure out the game. Defensively he’s got to continue to learn his coverages and learn the speed that the NBA is played at. Pascal has some of those physical attributes where can play at speed and pace and physicality, and he’s got to learn some of the technical terms, some of the coverages. He’s such a raw basketball player. Both really impressed, but both have a long way to go.”
The first steps of that journey will begin for both players on Friday night, at 10 P.M. ET.