The Toronto Raptors underwent a huge transition during the offseason, as new faces like Scottie Barnes, Dalano Banton, and Precious Achiuwa came to town after Kyle Lowry’s departure. Masai Ujiri confirmed his return to the Raptors with a very busy offseason that involves changing how this roster is constructed.
While Toronto has lost the last two games, the fact that a team many expected to be in the lottery posted a 6-4 record in the 10 games they played without their best player in Pascal Siakam speaks volumes. Ujiri turned this team around after just one objectively terrible season in Tampa.
Ujiri made this lineup as positionless as possible, with length and youth ruling the day. Even though the Raptors are in a bit of a retooling phase, Masai has made a few shrewd moves that have this team poised to compete for a playoff spot in a very crowded Eastern Conference this year.
These 3 moves show that even though the Toronto Raptors didn’t come into the year as a title contender, Ujiri’s sharp scouting eye combined with a very experienced front office is still capable of building a solid roster.
Ranking Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri’s best moves in 2021.
3. Stealing Dalano Banton in the second round
Picking in the second round can often feel like a crapshoot, as players picked around this range usually end up either playing most of the season in the G League, or getting minutes on tanking teams. Banton has not only been able to stick with the big-league club, but he’s become a valued rotation player.
Banton has averaged 5.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game through 11 contests. Not only has Banton been the high-energy defensive switchblade Toronto expected he could be, but Rexdale’s best is miles ahead of where he was as a scorer during his time at Nebraska.
The Toronto Raptors already made Dalano Banton a rotation player.
Banton is making 57% of his shots this year, and while his 37% 3-point success rate might not seem as impressive when you realize he is shooting less than one per game, it’s better than what he was doing in Lincoln. Banton has been so impressive that Malachi Flynn has already been relegated to the bench.
Banton and David Johnson were picked consecutively, yet one of them is an indispensable role player that had made Goran Dragic a de facto inactive and the other will spend most of his year with Raptors 905. Saying that Banton is providing tremendous value for where he was drafted is an understatement.