John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Assign Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn, & Yuta Watanabe to G League
A brief homestand for the Toronto Raptors means the shuttle bus to and from the G League is back up and running.
The Raptors have assigned Dalano Banton, Yuta Watanabe, and Malachi Flynn to the G League for Monday night's game against Westchester. It'll be a chance to get some extra playing time in for the trio who have each seen their playing time limited, if not vanish in recent weeks.
Banton has had back-to-back impressive outings with the G League, leading the 905 to a 116-114 victory on Thursday with 33 points, seven assists, and 13 rebounds. He then followed that up on Saturday with 23 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds in a victory over the Cleveland Charge.
"I’ll never not take an opportunity to play for Coach Mutombo and the 905," Banton said Sunday following a game with the Raptors. "It keeps me sharp, it keeps me ready to go and when I get opportunities to play like yesterday, coming in today I feel like I haven’t missed a beat, coming in running the same actions, trying to get guys involved and just do the little things."
Monday will mark Watanabe's first game with the 905 this season. Much like Banton, Watanabe has seen his minutes in the rotation vanish over the court of the season and some G League reps should help him find his groove again.
Flynn's path to playing time is the most precarious of the trio. He's essentially been out of the rotation all season and neither his play with the Raptors nor his G League games this season have given Toronto any reason for optimism. He'll need to turn things around quickly if he's going to have any chance of getting back into the NBA rotation.
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