Poeltl, Siakam taking steps together
Fast friendship is helping development of Raptors’ sophomore big men
PORTLAND— Ask Pascal Siakam about his friendship with Raptors teammate Jakob Poeltl and the forward can’t help taking a few playful jabs at his pal.
“I don’t like that guy at all. At all,” Siakam joked, just loud enough for Poeltl, sitting nearby, to hear him.
The centre may have offered a scowl in response to the remark, but that good-natured back and forth between the second-year players is part of the reason the two have developed a close bond since being drafted by the Raptors last year.
“He’s an easy guy to be around,” Poeltl said, once the ribbing subsided. “He’s the type of guy that makes you feel good about yourself because he laughs (at) your jokes. Just an easy and outgoing guy to be around. You can’t explain that kind of stuff, it’s just if you click with somebody or not.”
It’s certainly not something the 22year-old Austrian expected when he first came across the 23-year-old Cameroonian at a pre-draft workout in Buffalo about 16 months ago.
“We didn’t really talk much back then,” Poeltl said. “We didn’t work out with each other, I just saw him there. It was all very competitive.”
But when Poeltl, the seven-foot No. 9 pick, linked up with Siakam, the six-foot-nine No. 27 pick, in Toronto, the two big men hit it off. Today, they can often be found sharing dinners, playing video games or just hanging out — much of which is documented on their social media feeds.
“We got drafted together so I think there’s always that history,” Siakam said, “and we actually just enjoy each other’s company, besides basketball.”
Siakam says it helps to have someone sharing the same journey.
“I always have my brothers and stuff, and people I can talk to about basketball and other stuff, but it’s always good to have somebody on the team that you can also talk to,” he said. “You guys can encourage each other, when things are not going well or when they’re going well, so it’s cool.”
Things have been going well so far for both Siakam and Poeltl on the Raptors’ six-game western swing, which included a visit to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. The team closes the trip with games in Denver on Wednesday and in Utah on Friday.
Siakam, looking to make the most out of the playing time that has come with Jonas Valanciunas and Lucas Nogueira dealing with ankle injuries, averaged 19 points in games against Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers. Poeltl has shown dominance off the glass, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds against the Warriors.
They are encouraging signs for a team whose goal is to win now, despite carrying a sizable group of largely untested youngsters within its roster. Siakam and Poeltl, along with Delon Wright, are the most experienced of that youthful fraternity, each with 59 games under their belt heading into this week.
The youngest of the three, Poeltl believes he hit the jackpot when it comes to getting along with his “other rookie.”
“I think since you’re going through this stuff together (and) you’re around each other all the time . . . there’s a better chance you’ll be friends but it’s funny, (it’s) lucky that it worked out that way,” he said.
He sees his relationship with Siakam and other young Raptors paying dividends on the court, too.
“I think you could see it in summer league a little bit, with me, him and Fred (VanVleet) too,” Poeltl said. “You go through all this stuff together, you have all these workouts where the other guys maybe don’t work out because they played the other night and you, as rookies, don’t get that much playing time.
“And then (there’s) the off-court stuff where you develop chemistry, talk about different stuff. I think it can definitely show on the court, too.”