Canadians in the NBA Roundup: Dalano Banton is ready for his biggest challenge yet

The Toronto Raptors had a disappointing season across the board. And across the board, they will try to make up for it with an offseason of hard work and skill development in order to try to avenge themselves next season. After all, the Raptors prioritize player development more than any other NBA team, and their clearest path to an improved, deeper, more resilient roster is through internal development. 

Deeper being the imperative word. The Raptors had one of the better starting lineups in the league since acquiring Jakob Poeltl at the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline, but their bench was among the least reliable in the NBA all season right down to their loss in the Play-In Tournament. It stood in stark contrast to past Raptors teams known for unearthing hidden gems and developing them into consistent contributors up and down the roster. If the team is going to improve next season, they need to get back to their old ways with a determined, hungry summer from their young players.

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Dalano Banton is ready for the challenge. 

The 23-year-old Toronto, Ont., native came into the 2022-23 NBA season with high hopes. After a rookie campaign that saw the second-round pick play 64 games with the team he grew up cheering for — playing an additional seven games with the Raptors 905 in Mississauga, where he was utterly dominant — Banton spent the summer leading the Canadian senior men’s national team to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA AmeriCup in Brazil. 

Playing against professional players, who in some cases have been playing together for years, Banton weaponized his unique skill set as a 6-foot-9 point guard who can wreak havoc defensively, race the ball down the floor in a few long strides, and see over the top of defences with his advanced vision in the half court. He led the Canadians in points (15.7), rebounds (5.2), and assists (4.2) and was named to the All-Star Five despite being one of the youngest players at the tournament. 

“I just feel like that stretch of the summer I was playing a lot of games, staying sharp just with Summer League then going to FIBA then training camp and then preseason right after that. So I think it definitely kept me sharp,” Banton told Sportsnet.ca during Thursday’s locker clean out day about the start of his season. “And also my second year going back into training camp, I kinda had a feel for it already and kind of knew what to expect. There was a lot of new things. But I definitely was more prepared.”

Head coach Nick Nurse called Banton the “as good as anyone on the floor out there today” after the first training camp practice in Victoria, B.C. in September, and Banton played a role in 15 of the Raptors first 16 games to start the season. He capped off that impressive run of play with a career-high 27-point performance against Detroit on November 14th where Banton showcased all of his burgeoning skills, making three three-pointers after being asked to play off the ball more, and weaponizing his length as a defender with three steals and two blocks. 

Unfortunately, Banton injured his ankle the very next game, missed the next three games with a sprained ankle, and injured his hip and thumb in January and February, respectively. He never found his rhythm or his way back into the Raptors rotation, failing to play in more than two straight NBA games the rest of the season. Meanwhile, other players like Malachi Flynn, Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Will Barton got their chances at filling in his shoes at backup point guard — minutes that eventually went to Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam when it mattered. 

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Banton spent most of his sophomore season up and down between the 905 and Raptors, playing in 14 games for the 905, double the number he played in his rookie year. As the 905 struggled under first-year head coach Eric Khoury, Banton saw his numbers dip across the board, unable to find the same success as the injuries piled up and he was asked to play more of an off-ball role beside fellow point guard Dowtin Jr. 

“Just kinda understanding circumstance and situation,” Banton said in March about going back and forth between the 905 and Raptors. “Just knowing that I was set back with some injuries this year… So it’s never a downgrade, it’s never a punishment type of thing. Just going down there and staying professional and being ready for my name to get called.” 

“[I’m] using that time to get my reps up, trying to help bring my game to another level. And it’s been helping me, and I’ve been grateful for it.”

Banton played two completely different roles in his 31 games with the Raptors and his 14 games with the 905, having much more freedom to handle the ball and take shots in the G League. “And up here, it’s kind of like you just play your role,” Banton said of the Raptors, where he averaged 4.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.6 turnovers per game. “Play where you’re needed to be, play hard on defence, bring energy off the bench, and stuff like that.”

The problem, at least according to Nurse, was that Banton, like many young players on the Raptors bench, struggled to play that role consistently enough. Nurse said the peaks and valleys of Banton’s play were too extreme, saying “There’s some stretches of ups and downs and the downs gotta be a little more levelled out. Again, it’s can you come down and make a play and score and can you come down and make a shot and then not have a couple of turnovers back-to-back? Like it can’t be so extreme…

“We need some of that just to be solid and get us in the offence and not make something happen good or bad every time you have the ball.”

Banton is somewhat of a high-risk, high-reward player by nature, similar in that way to fellow Raptors sophomore Scottie Barnes. He plays with a frenetic pace and displays a level of creativity with the ball that sometimes results in turnovers — often because his teammates just aren’t expecting the pass — which goes against how Nurse wants his offence to operate given that he insists on winning the possession battle. 

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But Banton is a skilled passer with elite vision, and the biggest thing stopping him from showcasing that vision in the NBA has been his inability to unlock some of his scoring chops in order to have defences adjust and see those passing lanes open up. 

In fact, for Banton to crack the Raptors rotation next season, he will have to improve as a scorer, and that means knocking down jump shots in addition to the cutting and driving he is already adept at. Despite still not seeing positive results from three-point land, Banton feels confident in the progress he has made with his jump shot and the numbers bear that out, as Banton shot better percentages at the rim (78 per cent), from two-point range (53 per cent), and from three (26 per cent) this year than he did last season. He also saw his assist percentage go up (21) and his turnover percentage go down (13). And he is confident that despite the up-and-down season he had, he is making strides forward. 

“Just definitely being an all around player,” Banton said about his improvements. “Trying to get guys a little more involved. Kinda just trying to figure out my own game, just trying to play with pace, learning how to slow it down, knowing how to pick it up, knowing when to use speed and when not to. So it’s kinda trying to figure out more reads and stuff like that.”

Banton is a restricted free agent this summer with a qualifying offer worth just over $2 million for next season. Given that restricted free agents have very little leverage in the NBA, the odds are that if the Raptors still believe in Banton and want to bring him back, they will. What is less clear is what Banton will make of that opportunity, which could be his last with his hometown team. 

“Definitely just [going to] continue to stay sharp, working on my game all around,” Banton said about his plans this summer, which might include participating in Team Canada’s training camp for the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Toronto in August. “Definitely going to continue to grind in the weight room, put on weight throughout the summer, that’s one of my main [concerns] is definitely getting stronger… it’s a big, physical league, so [added strength should help] all around.”

But Banton knows that it will take more than skill work and weight lifting to succeed — he knows that it’s a mindset that separates NBA players from the rest. In fact, one of the most important aspects of the Raptors drafting and player development philosophy over the years has been bringing in workers: high-character individuals who are willing to sacrifice some of the off-court luxuries that come with being an NBA player in order to always be in the gym getting better. And Banton, who came into the NBA with the added pressure of playing for his hometown team on his shoulders, says he is learning how to focus on what he can control in order to develop better habits and become a better pro. 

“It’s day-by-day to see a better day. You come in here every day just trying to be a professional, coming in knowing that you control what you can control,” Banton said. “If you’re not in the game, it’s something out of your control. You know you can come in here and put in the work everyday just so people can see that you’re trying to get better, you’re trying to get out there.”

“So kinda just being a professional, that was kinda the main thing I’ve seen from these guys,” Banton added. “Freddy, Pascal being the first ones here every day, kinda just learning from guys who have had their foot in the game for a while, guys that have been here a while, and trying to use that to help keep me going and have some longevity in the league.”

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