Should the Raptors roll with Dalano Banton or Malachi Flynn as backup PG?

The Toronto Raptors have a good problem: they have two young, up-and-coming prospects at the point guard position who look poised to be steady, reliable contributors off their bench next season. Should they move one of them to help fill gaps on the roster? Or is it better to keep both? Amit Mann and Yasmin Duale discussed their options on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: But do they need to choose between them, or do you think that they should either A, trade one of them or B, you know, decide who's going to be your backup point guard?

YASMIN DUALE: You know, because the guard rotation is so thin, I can see them keeping both, honestly. Paying both and just retaining both. Splitting their minutes between two guys probably also helps keep their value down so that they're affordable for the Raptors in the future. Which is like, eh. It's kind of slimy, but you know, it's business. But--

AMIT MANN: Them be the breaks.

YASMIN DUALE: --I-- I wouldn't keep Dalano if that was the scenario, because I feel like a true point guard-- like, he's a real point guard. He's not a forward that can just kind of pass, but he's a true point guard. He's passed first. All at his height, his mobility, his defense. I-- I feel like he just has too many physical skills and that the offensive discrepancy between him and Malachi isn't too huge. I think Malachi-- yeah, he is probably someone who can develop into a shooter quicker, because he already has that established.

And he's really good in the pick and roll, but, you know, Dalano is not bad in it either. So, you know, if it became-- if it came down to between those two, I can see them opting to keep Dalano. But I don't see why they can't just keep both. And honestly, splitting their minutes and just taking what you need in that rotation and just kind of diagnosing it with either Flynn or Dalano has been working so far this season. I feel like they've pretty-- like, whenever you throw one of those guys into the game, something happens. Something shifts. Sort of better, usually.

So I don't know if they would change the scenario they've already-- the dynamic they've already established with both of them.

AMIT MANN: Yeah. And I-- it's a really tricky thing. It's a great problem to have, like I said, that you have two players who are, like, 22 years old-- I believe they're both 22-- who are assets, too, and could potentially, you know-- you could tell that-- you could see it. It's percolating that they're both going to be very good NBA players. I wonder, with Dalano, if they start to develop him as a shooting guard-- and that would obviously require him to become a competent 3-point shooter.

But if they decide to do that-- because I can just hear Masai. Like, oh, do I need to make a decision between these two? Do I really? Like, I have two good players. Why do I need to trade one of them? And I mean, Dalano, you can just see, like, how versatile he is. Like, you talked about him. I mean, he was, like, the person fronting Nikola Jokic in their Denver game. Like, he's 6'9.

YASMIN DUALE: One through five.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, exactly. So, look, you just add him into that fold. Like, this is another guy that I could play at the three or the two or the four if I need to. And now you have this guy who's just like-- who can run the floor. He's a great cutter. He can be a secondary ball handler on the court. You just need him to develop his 3-point shot. In this year-- so 2022. He's 6 of 24. Not great, obviously. But if you want to bank on just him developing that over the course of the offseason-- give him a shooting program and he executes it-- like, that would be an awesome thing to have.

And now, again, you just have another guy who's fitting this mold. And he doesn't need to be a point guard, but he can be. And Malachi, he probably is, you know, more better suited to be a point guard, just between the two of them. I mean, who knows what Dalano does during the offseason. But Malachi, right now, he is a point guard. You can rely on him. He's a great pick and roll point guard. You have--

YASMIN DUALE: Oh, yeah.

AMIT MANN: --players now, especially with a Precious-- a Thad Young, if you want to bring him back. You have guys he can actually use in those situations. And you have a great bench now. You have something that can actually create offense, sustainable offense-- you know, possession by possession-- and it's going to help, you know, Fred VanVleet-- go down the list. It's going to help all these guys just play less minutes, and that's been a problem for this whole season. That's kind of where I want to see this go. I don't want to see them trade either of them. I want to see them use them and--

YASMIN DUALE: Me neither.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, make Dalano-- you know, make him-- he's going to be a sophomore next year. Like, he's got many more years to come to be a point guard if he decides to be, if that's what he wants to be. I'm sure it does, because that's-- that's what he's been his entire life. But it's not going to take away from the money that he's going to make in the NBA if he decides to be like just master the art of being a two and a three and a four. And that is what Nick asks of them anyways. That [INAUDIBLE] when he became a Raptor. He's like, it's kind of interesting that I have to learn how to be a three and a five and a four.

So that's been a bit of a transition. That's what you're asked to do with the Raptors, right? And Dalano just has to take on that challenge. And if he's able to become a decent catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter, like, now you do have a shooting guard. You have another guy. Like, I see the vision. It'd be really cool.

YASMIN DUALE: Yeah, yeah. I feel like that's probably where his value lies, in just being super versatile. Like, if he's able to become like an, oh, any team can take him and plug him into wherever they need, there's a lot of value in that. Even if he's not excelling in every department, just having a guy that you can throw in-- like, I feel like that's like a "Sixth Man of the Year" type-- or that archetype that he could follow.

AMIT MANN: Mm-hmm. And it's very current, in this NBA, to be that player who can be plugged at the two to four, right? It's like we talked about. It's going to help his-- his value when it comes to contract time. And if the Raptors can't afford him, that's OK. Because you've done your part for his development and--

YASMIN DUALE: And you'll have options, yeah.

AMIT MANN: Yeah. And I always love when Nick Durst talks about his-- his job as a coach is to raise the value of each player in the marketplace. It's such a cool thing to hear. It's like you know that the-- the coaching staff and the franchise cares about your development, and this would actually help Dalano bring all kinds of money home to Rexdale. And they're going to be in a really good spot, all his family, all his friends.