3 Toronto Raptors who have not lived up to expectations in 2021

The Toronto Raptors may have picked up a very impressive win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, but this team still has a tall mountain to climb. Bench players like Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa have not done a good job of backing up stars like Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes.

The Raptors currently stand at 10-13, which would leave them in the lottery once again in the suddenly ultra-competitive Eastern Conference. As good as some of the stars have been, some of the pieces Masai Ujrii chose to lean on this year have not played up to their full potential.

Be it veterans that have not been able to sustain their peak performance or young players that aren’t checking all of the developmental milestones that this team wanted to see them check, Toronto has been let down by some less than flattering performances out of their rotation.

These 3 players need to get things turned around as soon as possible. They haven’t lived up to the expectations that were laid before them when the season began, but there is still time to get this campaign pointed in the right direction.

3 Toronto Raptors players have been disappointing this season.

3. PG Malachi Flynn

The former first-round pick has watched players drafted after him like Desmond Bane become legitimate star players while he remains largely rooted to the bench. Dalano Banton was thought to be a developmental player, but he has immediately usurped the San Diego State product in the rotation.

Flynn went from scoring 7.5 points per game in around 19 minutes per contest to just 2.7 points per game while averaging around nine minutes every night. Flynn is making just 34% of his shots, which is indicative of a player that has seen his development stagnate.

Toronto Raptors PG Malachi Flynn isn’t playing like a first-round pick.

The fact that Flynn allowed a second-round rookie who came into the NBA with questions about his offensive ceiling to snatch his job away is extremely concerning. Toronto did pick up his 2022 option, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be back with the Raptors next year.

Injuries will invariably happen at some point, and Flynn will likely be the player who sees the biggest uptick in minutes. Having said that, he is running out of chances to prove he can stick in Nick Nurse’s rotation. Maybe a stint in the G League could help him rediscover his confidence on the offensive end.