They were faint, but if you listened closely, you could make them out: When Dalano Banton stepped to the line late in what ended up being a comfortable win for the Raptors 905, a smattering of fans began chanting ‘MVP’.
Of this particular game? There’s no question.
Barely 12 hours after the Raptors rookie from Rexdale was being singled out by head coach Nick Nurse for his contributions off the bench in Sunday night’s win over the visiting Washington Wizards, Banton was back on the floor at Scotiabank Arena for another game, this time a G-League matinee with the 905.
An 11 a.m. ET tip in a mostly empty gym isn’t normally the kind of thing that gets the blood flowing for NBA players who are used to being at their best after sundown in arenas that pulse, but Banton was ready.
Against the visiting Capitol City Go-Go -- the Wizards' G-League team -- Banton checked in midway through the first quarter, roughly mimicking the rotation pattern he’s gotten used to coming off the bench with the Raptors.
He had his work cut out for him. The 905 were -- incredibly -- trailing 20-0. Their no-show from the jump was so complete that the crowd which traditionally remains standing until the 905 score their first basket gave up and simply sat down after the first timeout.
But once Banton checked in, there was plenty to cheer about. The 905 jumped out to a 15-2 run with Banton chipping in a couple of buckets, some active, long-armed defence, and some next-level passes.
He toggled between attacking at speed to get his feet into the paint before firing out lasers to waiting shooters and slowing to manipulate pick-and-rolls, such as one that generated an easy bucket for Isaac Bonga, who was one of five Raptors-affiliated players that took the floor Monday.
Banton looking head-and-shoulders above the competition was a theme for the day. The 22-year-old finished with 30 points -- 17 in the fourth quarter alone -- on 11-of-18 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds and four steals. He would have had significantly more than the one assist he was credited for had some of the shots he helped create get converted. Most telling? He was plus-23 for the afternoon.
With the Raptors off for the day, several of his teammates -- Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher and Yuta Watanabe among them -- and the entire Raptors coaching staff made time to watch the game.
Banton could have only helped his standing in their eyes. Bonga likely did, too, as he was a disruptive menace on defence for the entire game, living in passing lanes and creating several transition opportunities for himself.
But it can work the other way. Second-year guard Malachi Flynn made his first appearance with the 905 even as he has struggled to gain a foothold in the Raptors' rotation, slipping behind Banton in training camp and playing mostly fringe minutes -- if he gets on the floor at all.
“It was a last-minute decision, honestly,” he said of his choice to join the 905 for the day. “After the game [Sunday] I found out there were playing here at Scotiabank, that was a big reason. I’m like ‘yeah, I’ll go down.”
Given Flynn has played just 90 seconds of ‘garbage time’ over the Raptors' last two starts, it seemed like a wise move.
Did it help his cause or confirm his flaws?
Flynn went on a scoring binge in the third quarter, putting up 12 of his 21 points in a three-minute burst, but he ended up shooting 7-of-21 and 3-of-12 from deep -- not the most encouraging line given Flynn was just bounced from the Raptors' rotation after a five-game stretch of double-digit minutes where he shot just 34 per cent from the floor.
And given the Raptors want him to bring energy and spark when he does get games, it can’t help his cause that the Go-Go started the first quarter 20-0 and the third quarter 7-0 on his watch. Flynn plays with a poised calm, which is normally a strength. But looked at another way, it can be interpreted as a casualness from possession to possession. As an undersized point guard who has rarely shot the ball well as a pro, finding ways to disrupt games when he’s not scoring should be high on his to-do list, but there wasn’t much evidence of that approach against the Go-Go.
Banton, meanwhile, is sensing an opportunity and -- quite literally -- running with it.
“It was funny, the first time I played with him he was just getting out so fast, you know what I’m saying?” said 905 big man Reggie Perry, who played 26 games with Brooklyn last season and has been the 905’s most consistent producer this year. “I was like, ‘dang Dalano, slow down’. The pace of the game, he speeds it up a lot and of course that’s what the Raptors like and our coach likes. He changes the pace a lot, gets guys open, finds guys. He’s really, really talented. I love playing with him.”
And Banton is paying attention to the details. When his teammate for the day, Breein Tyree, was at the free throw line with 20 seconds left in a game that was already decided, it was Banton who jogged over from the center court logo to dap him up after he made his first of two. When there was a loose ball heading out of bounds with 13 seconds to go, it was Banton who sprinted over to try and save it, sneakers screeching.
“Those things are important, absolutely,” said Raptors 905 head coach Patrick Mutombo. “I think those are things that reveal character and a desire and willingness to win.”
Banton wasn’t perfect. In his effort to establish some rhythm from the three-point line -- a company directive, in fairness -- he forced a couple of long looks against the Go-Gos. Defensively there were some close outs to the three-point line that were fairly perfunctory as he looked to leak out for fastbreaks, and he got caught napping off-the-ball more than once.
But in general, he did what has endeared him to Nurse through the first two-plus months of the season: He swooped around defensively, regularly used his length to disrupt shooters on the perimeter, in the paint and at the rim -- sometimes all on the same play. And when the ball is in his hands, the speed of the game goes up about two notches or more.
But part of the purpose of playing with the minor league team is to tighten up his weaknesses as well.
So, what was Mutombo pleased about?
“I saw a greater commitment to defending the ball, but also being patient offensively, taking care of the ball,” Mutombo said. “How many turnovers did he have? Two? That’s something we talked about and he did a much better job.”
It’s been a busy 10 days or so for Banton, the rangy six-foot-nine point guard who the Raptors are hoping to turn into their next player development success story after taking him 46th in the draft this past summer.
Since returning from the Raptors' 13-day road trip, Banton has barely had a moment to rest.
With both the NBA team and the G-League team at home for an extended period in December, Banton and some of the other Raptors' youngsters have been playing for two teams, effectively.
Banton has either been practising with the big club or with 905 if the Raptors have a game or an off-day. And if the Raptors aren’t playing, he’s suiting up for 905. On Thursday, he practised in the morning with the 905 in Mississauga and was in uniform with the Raptors against the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks that night.
The goal is to take lessons learned with the Raptors and apply them to live action with 905, or take confidence earned from live reps with the G-League team and apply them to his play with the Raptors.
It seems to be working, as long as Banton’s legs don’t give out on him.
“It’s definitely helpful, getting the reps in and understanding the game,” he said later. “Regardless, it’s professional basketball; it's going to be a high level of basketball, whether I'm playing in the G-League or [with the Raptors]. It’s getting the reps in, learning reads. A lot of the actions and offences are similar so they're just trying to get guys involved and figure out where I can pick my spots from there.”
The benefits showed on Sunday with the Raptors, when Banton played one of the better games of his nascent NBA career with six assists in 15 minutes to go along with a triple and a pair of free throws.
He made plays like this:
And this one, as he consistently used his size, handle, and stride length to turn the corner, collapse the defence and get passes in his teammates' hands:
“I thought Dalano played awesome tonight,” Nurse said after the Raptors' win against the Wizards. “He really was good defensively and really running the team and getting guys shots and getting some of his own shots and things… like he was, he was good.”
And on Monday morning he got up early and got better.
Those turnovers Mutombo was referencing? In Banton’s G-League debut on Nov. 12, he made a splash with 30 points and 10 assists, but his eight turnovers spoiled the effect. On Saturday there were five more turnovers. For the season with the Raptors, he’s been averaging three turnovers per 36 minutes, which is high for an aspiring point guard who mostly handles the ball in transition.
So, trimming that number down to two in 33 minutes is not just a positive, it’s an imperative.
But bigger picture, the Raptors are hoping Banton can follow in the footsteps several Raptors that have before him used successful stints in the G-League to prove their NBA value. Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Norm Powell, and Chris Boucher have all helped establish their worth playing for the 905.
It’s something Banton is hoping to do too.
“I’m definitely grateful for whatever time I get to come down here,” he said. “Playing here I get a lot more reps, Coach Mutombo trusts me with the ball and I get to come down here, work on my craft but also play the right way and play to our pillars... it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking to build on it.”
Are there more MVP chants in Banton’s NBA future? Unlikely, and that’s not the point. But with more weekends like he just had -- sharp minutes with the big team sandwiched around long, useful runs with Raptors 905 -- it’s getting easier to picture Banton building himself a solid NBA career and maybe more.
