Bleacher Report’s ranking of Joel Embiid as the NBA’s best 32-year-old has opened the door to a real debate, and Pascal Siakam belongs right in the middle of it.
Embiid’s résumé is obviously loaded. The former MVP has already hit levels that most players never touch.
But the last few seasons have made the conversation a lot messier. Injuries have repeatedly interrupted his run, and when the playoffs arrive, he has not consistently maintained that same level for a full postseason.
He still has not gotten past the second round, either, which is hard to ignore when he has been the centerpiece.
That is where Siakam enters the picture.
Bleacher Report placed the Pacers’ two-time All-Star and former NBA champion alongside Derrick White of the Boston Celtics as a contender for the top 32-year-old honor, but Embiid got the nod because of his numbers, even with only 57 games played over the last two seasons. The case for Siakam is different. It is built on availability, efficiency, and what has happened since Indiana brought him in during January of 2024.
The Pacers did not add Siakam expecting a deep playoff run right away. They wanted a competitive team with a little more experience as the rebuild moved forward.
Instead, Indiana ripped through the Milwaukee Bucks in a tough six-game series, then knocked off the New York Knicks in Game 7 on the road. That run pushed the Pacers into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
They were swept, but the series was competitive and showed what was possible.
The following postseason took the story even further. Indiana beat Milwaukee in five games, upset the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in five, then stunned the No. 3 seed New York Knicks in six to reach the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history. The Pacers then pushed the No. 1 team in the league, the Oklahoma City Thunder, all the way to Game 7 before losing in heartbreaking fashion.
Siakam has been at the center of all of it. In Indiana, he has often been the steady go-to option and, at times, the team’s No. 1 choice. His championship background has clearly mattered, and in just three seasons he has helped carry the Pacers farther than Embiid has taken the 76ers since Philadelphia drafted him in 2014.
The playoff numbers back up the argument. Siakam has played 40 postseason games for the Pacers and averaged 21.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks. He has also shot 52.6% from the field, 38.0% from three, and 68.1% from the line.
Embiid’s most recent playoff line came in seven games last season, when he averaged 24.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 0.9 blocks, and 0.3 steals while shooting 46.0% from the field, 17.9% from three, and 83.1% at the stripe.
Embiid’s scoring, rebounding, and playmaking edge is real, but the sample sizes are not remotely the same. Forty games versus seven changes the shape of the argument, especially when Siakam has been the more efficient scorer from the floor and from deep.
Health is the other major divider. Over the last three regular seasons, Siakam has played 181 games.
Embiid has played 96. Siakam is also set to make roughly $49 million next season, while Embiid is around $58 million.
Embiid is expected to have more help around him than ever this season, and a lighter usage load could help preserve him for the playoffs. Still, the grind of repeated deep runs is a real concern given what his body has already absorbed.
If the choice is who you want moving forward, Siakam makes a strong case. He has not fallen far behind Embiid statistically, he has already proven he can lead a team deep into the postseason, and he has brought steady leadership on and off the court.
Embiid may have the higher ceiling. But Siakam is the safer bet to carry a team farther in the playoffs, and that is why he has a legitimate argument as the NBA’s best 32-year-old.
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The problem is that those kinds of projections only matter if Haliburton is available and operating at the level Indiana needs from him. The Pacers already paid a real price to add Zubac, losing a first-round pick to the Clippers after that selection conveyed when Indiana fell to fifth in the lottery, so the margin for error is thin. If this season goes the way Indiana hopes, it may end up being defined less by the depth chart than by one central Haliburton question the team has to answer along the way. [Read more 🡒]
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For a team trying to survive the grind of a long postseason, that lack of depth could matter almost as much as star power. Injuries have a way of exposing thin benches, and the teams that usually last the longest are the ones that get unexpected help from role players. Indiana may have enough talent to make a real run, but its margin for error looks slimmer than that of some of the leagues other contenders. [Read more 🡒]