3 Toronto Raptors players who need to finish the season strong

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TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 02: Dalano Banton #45 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /

The Toronto Raptors saw Fred VanVleet put on a show at All-Star Weekend, meaning they can resume their quest to make it to the postseason. With their 32-25 record putting them just a half-game behind Boston for the all-important sixth seed, Nick Nurse has to like his chances.

Toronto’s success is intrinsically tied to their depth, as they have been winning despite a supporting cast that hasn’t always given VanVleet and Pascal Siakam the support they deserve. Thad Young is in town, but the rest of this Raptors’ roster is far from a sure thing.

The Raptors have a few matchups against some of the best teams in the West on the schedule and some games against the Nets and 76ers coming up right after. Toronto needs to see their secondary and tertiary players start to take steps forward and finish 2021-22 out strong.

These 3 players will be integral to Toronto making a deep run in the postseason this year. If they start to put some recent clunkers in the past and get back on the right track, that could be all that this Raptors squad needs to firmly cement themselves as a postseason participant.

3 Toronto Raptors players who need a strong second half

3. Dalano Banton

The lack of a true backup point guard has haunted this team all year long, but Banton is trying to fill that void with his combination of athleticism, effort, and explosion. While Toronto keeps winning games with Banton in the lineup, he hasn’t had the best box score stats over the last few weeks.

Since the start of the new year, Banton is averaging just 2.8 points per game and making 38% of his shots from the field. It goes without saying that his grip on that rotation spot is about as loose as humanly possible. Banton needs to start flexing his muscles on the offensive end.

The Toronto Raptors need Dalano Banton to step up.

Banton is averaging just under 29 points per game in the G League, showing that he is improving as a scorer when compared to his college days at Nebraska. While making Banton any sort of offensive vocal point would be ill-advised, he needs to be more involved on that end.

In a league where some second-round picks get stuck in the G League or never play in the NBA, Banton has already proven worthy of NBA minutes in some form or fashion. Unfortunately, if he is to take that next step in his development and beef up Toronto’s bench, he needs to let it fly.