Banton making case for role in Raptors’ early-season rotation. JLew1050 has MORE:
TORONTO – Dalano Banton entered training camp as one of seven Raptors players on a partially guaranteed contract, fighting for his spot on the team, but he might come out of it as one of the eight-to-10 guys in Nick Nurse’s early-season circle of trust.
The preseason has been a mixed bag for the Raptors, who fell to 2-2 in exhibition. Their offensive struggles continued into the weekend, as they shot just 35 per cent against the Bulls, including 8-for-37 from long range. Admittedly, Fred VanVleet, who hit just three of his 12 three-point attempts, is working his way back into game shape, and the same could be said for a few of the team's other regular rotation players.
When he’s at his best, Banton comes into the game and uses his elite combination of length and speed to push the tempo and make an immediate impact on both ends of the floor. With his physical tools and skill set, he checks off a lot of boxes for the ever-versatile and position-less Raptors. It’s one of the reasons he was able to beat out the smaller Malachi Flynn for the backup point guard gig out of camp a year ago.
“He just seems to be more comfortable with the reads, with the speed of the game,” said VanVleet. “Obviously it’s going to be hard for a 6-foot-9 point guard not to have success in the NBA just with the size and the lanes that are available to him, being able to finish around the rim. He’s getting more comfortable with the jump shot, so it looks like a guy who has taken that step and feels like a guy that is ready to crack the rotation.
Porter, the team’s biggest addition over the summer, has missed all of preseason with a hamstring issue he sustained in one of the team’s first practices. After taking a hard fall late in Friday’s loss to Houston, Boucher missed Sunday’s contest, also with a hamstring strain. Neither injury is believed to be “super serious,” according to Nurse, but they’re expected to be out for a “little while.
With the program prioritizing the World Cup qualifiers, taking place in Victoria at roughly the same time, Banton was the lone NBA player that represented Canada in Brazil. Given the expanded workload he would carry there, and that he’d be playing for Nathaniel Mitchell – an assistant coach with the Raptors – Nurse thought it would be a good chance for the young guard to get some much-needed reps running an offence. Banton didn’t need much convincing.
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