Why Malachi Flynn is still an intriguing prospect to NBA teams

Amit Mann is joined by Yahoo Sports Sr. NBA Writer Jake Fischer to explain why Malachi Flynn, who's had a fairly inconsistent term in the NBA, is still viewed as an attractive prospect by other NBA teams. Listen to the full episode discussing the latest rumours around the team on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed or watch on YouTube.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: That's Gary. That's Fred. Outside of those two, the Raptors have a lot of tradable contracts. You go down the list, like, it could be an Otto Porter Junior, who has a player option next season, what does he decide to do. Khem Birch, Thad Young, Chris Boucher, all these guys could be involved in a trade for Gary Trent Junior, or Fred VanVleet. Are there other non-core players that you're seeing some interest in, or maybe the Raptors could be looking at moving as well?

JAKE FISCHER: I will be shocked if Otto Porter didn't take didn't pick up his player option.

AMIT MANN: I hope he does.

JAKE FISCHER: I'd be surprised if a team-- I mean, that's unfortunate, right? Like, he had a really strong postseason, gets a nice contract from it, and just doesn't play any factor in this season where Raptor were clearly hoping he could provide a lot of punch off the bench, necessary shooting, hasn't even been a factor at all. That's disappointing.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JAKE FISCHER: I could certainly see a team going and acquiring Thad or Khem Birch, but the return back, or those guys being an additional player like you said, in a bigger trade, but I don't think you've got a ton of teams lining up to go acquire those guys. And I can't imagine the return is going to be too, too great either.

But look, like those back end of rotation guys, they're not really playing a ton of minutes right now in this current Raptors rotation anyway. So yeah, also, I'm not so certain like how much moving them would really move the needle in terms of like plummeting down the standings, if you will. But I mean, Thad is a veteran that wants to play in a competitive postseason environment. So if they do decide to take a step in a tanking direction, I could see them looking to move him just A, to do right by this veteran that they signed to a short-term contract this summer. That's a thought I could see coming to fruition.

But I mean, Malachi Flynn I think, could have some retrade value in that he was a first round pick. There was a lot of interest in him around the league at that time. He hasn't exactly had a total runway to flourish in Toronto. And I mean, teams love to take shots on former first round picks.

The pedigree that you have as a recruit, as a prospect from high high school rankings through the draft, like, that sticker shock, that shine stays on you until it doesn't. I mean, Bruno Caboclo, to throw out a name, was still getting a lot of opportunity around the league for a long, long time, even though it never really clicked. So I think of all the people who are not starter level players on this Raptors team, Malachi Flynn probably would have the most amount, the highest amount of opposing teams probably knocking on Toronto's door to see what his availability would be.

AMIT MANN: Bruno is in what, Memphis, last year, right, for a little bit?

JAKE FISCHER: He was [AUDIO OUT] now. I believe he's in the Mexico City Capitanes.

AMIT MANN: There you go. Hey man, you talk about vision six-nine, I mean, the man's a fit in that way. I guess Messi was on to something with it, and unfortunately, it hasn't really worked out for him.

JAKE FISCHER: Is vision six-nine like a full trademark, like team slogan? Or that's just something that media fans, people following the team have kind of like-- because trust the process, like, for example in Philly, was not a thing the team wanted to even be affiliated with for a while. They were kind of like distancing themselves from it. Like, is that a team sponsored thing, or more of like a hoopla around the franchise?

AMIT MANN: It's a hoopla, but what's funny is that they don't actually have that many players who are six-nine. Most of them are six-eight, or six-seven. But I think that when they had Pascal, Scottie, and OG, and especially when they got Scottie through that Tampa season, which I mean, hey, it wasn't a great season. It was terrible for everyone, but they got Scottie Barnes out of it. So I mean, it'd would it be.

It's just like pound the rock, pound the rock with Dwane Casey, that became a slogan around here. You've got to pound the rock if you guys want to get better. His voice, that's the man right there. Pound the rock. And that's not said anymore around here, but he lives in infamy because of that particular comment. He'll always have a place in Raptors history. And also, he was a very good coach, and I'm happy he's making a home there in Detroit.