The Toronto Raptors have seen a handful of young players, Scottie Barnes chief among them, put together some very impressive performances this season. Unfortunately, 2020 first-round pick Malachi Flynn has not been one of them, as Raptors coach Nick Nurse has stuck him on the bench.
Flynn has only played in one game this season, and that was a brief three-minute cameo against Boston when the game had already been decided. Considering that he was the Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month for April despite a slow start last year, the lack of minutes has been confusing.
Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. have earned their starting roles, but Flynn has barely played despite the new addition in Goran Dragic disappointing. Even rookie Dalano Banton has been getting some time near the end of games while Flynn has to waste away in his warmups.
When asked why Flynn hasn’t been playing, Nurse claimed that the presence of VanVleet and Dragic is making it very hard for No. 22 to get on the floor. Nurse also wondered why the questions have all been related to Flynn not playing rather than Banton making his mark on the team and getting time.
Nurse, asked why Flynn isn't playing: "There's a Fred and there's a Goran and we've given Dalano a run. And Dalano's the one you should probably be asking me about. He's played outstanding every minute he's been out there.. You guys should be all over me for not playing him more"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) October 26, 2021
Dragic might have years of pedigree under his belt, but that shouldn’t necessarily preclude Flynn from the rotation if the Slovenian greybeard isn’t getting it done.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse isn’t playing Malachi Flynn a ton.
As impressive as Banton has been, the biggest issue with Nurse’s comments relates to Dragic. While it is expected that Toronto will eventually deal him away to a team that could contend for a championship, Dragic is making it tough to do that, as he is shooting 31.8% from the field and 22% from 3-point range.
The Raptors clearly want Dragic to succeed and pump up his trade value as much as possible, but if he continues to negatively impact the offense like this, it will become harder to justify keeping a promising rookie on the bench in favor of a veteran looking for his next destination and going through the motions.
To Flynn’s credit, he hasn’t been moping around and sulking over his lack of playing time. In fact, after a loss to the Bulls, Flynn stayed in the arena by himself and worked on his jump shot, potentially as a way to show how ready he is.
Presumably most of the team is on their way out after a tough loss and Malachi Flynn is out on the court putting up shots pic.twitter.com/l36uRshUTH
— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) October 26, 2021
Flynn will get his chance at some point in the season, and while he could ruin it for himself if he didn’t work on his efficiency, Nurse will have to give his former first-round pick a shot, especially if Dragic continues to play like this.