Did we give up on Banton too soon?

[Mark_83]

Not saying he's gonna be a star or anything but the kid's looking promising again with Portland averaging 14.3pts 4.5reb 2.6ast in 26 minutes a game on 42/39/73 shooting.

Hometown kid. Still only 24 so the perfect age for our current rebuild. Obviously Masai didn't know we were going to tear it down but even with that in mind did we give up on him too early? It would have been cool to see him get an opportunity with the current roster that is giving minutes to the likes of Carton, Ramsey, and McDaniels.

Watch on YouTube

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Watch on YouTube

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[WuTang_OG]

I think he asked out cuz of all the home distractions

[Green Backpack]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

[maternal85]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

[alan_156]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

Liberty's leash was/is too short tbh. He was getting consistent mins and now he's only playing in garbage time.


Free him.

[HiJiNX]

I was always a big fan. Let’s see if he can turn this hot stretch into a career.

EDIT:

Watching the vids…his shot preparation is much improved. He now has a one motion shot. Footwork way better. Same release every time. Much quicker release. Shot doesn’t fly left or right anymore, it’s straight every time. Doesn’t play too fast in the halfcourt anymore and is much more patient and under control, allowing him to use his natural vision, which he has always had. Is a much better ball handler. Still blocks shots from behind (he did that here, too). Still puts lots of pressure on the defence in transition (did that here too). Still struggles to finish in traffic (same was true here).

I think with more reps he can fully figure it out. From those vids he still looks like a player with potential and not a guy you can trust every night but another season of consistent minutes and he can become something. The experience here might have been a huge wake up call, and being in the Celtics system might have given him more professional habits. I say all this because it’s very apparent that he’s put A LOT of work into his game the past two off seasons.

[maternal85]

I was always a big fan. Let’s see if he can turn this hot stretch into a career.

Portland will pick up his 2 million team option for sure. With him producing like this, it's official he can at least produce coming off the bench. No more G league assignments for him, and he has just extended his career by a few years at least.

[AkelaLoneWolf]

These are the tank days. Stats at this time don’t mean much. Btw he’s averaging 7 ppg. Not sure where we got 14 ppg.
Bottom line when the games matter Banton is nowhere to be seen.

[Los_29]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

This happens all the time at the end of the year in meaningless games. Even Jalen Harris finished the Tampa year strong and he’s out of the league now. Drew Eubanks averaged 15/9 the last two months of the year with Portland. When games are meaningless and there is no system in place then stats can easily get inflated.

It’s also important to note that Banton is putting up these numbers on a 53% TS% while providing very little playmaking. And his 3pt percentage is completely unsustainable.

Hope he can figure it out but Boston dumped this guy for a protected top 55 pick. Chances are it’s just another case of a player pumping up his numbers on a bad team.

[HiJiNX]

I was always a big fan. Let’s see if he can turn this hot stretch into a career.

Portland will pick up his 2 million team option for sure. With him producing like this, it's official he can at least produce coming off the bench. No more G league assignments for him, and he has just extended his career by a few years at least.

Good for him. Always seemed like a good kid. I used to work in Rexdale when he was a likkle yute and I’d occasionally see him shooting around out there at Elmbank (for those in Rexdale). This was back when he had to have been like 12 or 13. I remember thinking this kid was super tall and that alone gave him potential.

He wasn’t out there like that. Always kinda quiet. Wasn’t into the street stuff. Was always only with one or two people, not a big crew. Just seemed like a good kid. Never got to know him cuz he wasn’t in the program I was working for but I always wondered what would happen for him cuz again, he was almost my height (6’4) when he was in middle school. Hopefully he keeps trending up.

[HiJiNX]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

This happens all the time at the end of the year in meaningless games. Even Jalen Harris finished the Tampa year strong and he’s out of the league now. Drew Eubanks averaged 15/9 the last two months of the year with Portland. When games are meaningless and there is no system in place then stats can easily get inflated.

It’s also important to note that Banton is putting up these numbers on a 53% TS% while providing very little playmaking. And his 3pt percentage is completely unsustainable.

Hope he can figure it out but Boston dumped this guy for a protected top 55 pick. Chances are it’s just another case of a player pumping up his numbers on a bad team.

I mean, yes and no. Sometimes things that happen at the end of a season are meaningless garbage minutes type production or sometimes they’re signs of what’s to come. Time will tell.

But I’ve always been pretty high on Banton. Physical tools and a natural instinct for the game are always a good foundation to build upon. If you look at the tape, he’s clearly put in a lot of time with his skills. He seems to have worked out his shot a bit, and it’s too early to say it’s unsustainable (a word people love around here) given that he’s been steadily improving that part of his game for a few years now and most of his three point attempts are catch and shoot. We gotta remember that this was a guy who couldn’t make anything even when wide open. Being able to make shots when left open now is huge, and to even make a few self created ones. That’s an improvement. The handles look much tighter. Where he seems to still struggle is finishing at the rim, which would explain his TS%. Once he improves inside the arc, his ability to see the floor and pass should shine a bit more.

[Los_29]

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

This happens all the time at the end of the year in meaningless games. Even Jalen Harris finished the Tampa year strong and he’s out of the league now. Drew Eubanks averaged 15/9 the last two months of the year with Portland. When games are meaningless and there is no system in place then stats can easily get inflated.

It’s also important to note that Banton is putting up these numbers on a 53% TS% while providing very little playmaking. And his 3pt percentage is completely unsustainable.

Hope he can figure it out but Boston dumped this guy for a protected top 55 pick. Chances are it’s just another case of a player pumping up his numbers on a bad team.

I mean, yes and no. Sometimes things that happen at the end of a season are meaningless garbage minutes type production or sometimes they’re signs of what’s to come. Time will tell.

But I’ve always been pretty high on Banton. Physical tools and a natural instinct for the game are always a good foundation to build upon. If you look at the tape, he’s clearly put in a lot of time with his skills. He seems to have worked out his shot a bit, and it’s too early to say it’s unsustainable (a word people love around here) given that he’s been steadily improving that part of his game for a few years now and most of his three point attempts are catch and shoot. We gotta remember that this was a guy who couldn’t make anything even when wide open. Being able to make shots when left open now is huge, and to even make a few self created ones. That’s an improvement. The handles look much tighter. Where he seems to still struggle is finishing at the rim, which would explain his TS%. Once he improves inside the arc, his ability to see the floor and pass should shine a bit more.

That’s the problem though. He can’t finish at the rim and he’s not a good shooter. He’s also not a good playmaker. I always thought he could have a career if he could improve his shooting, decision making and finishing but it appears as though he hasn’t improved on any of those (unless this shooting with Portland is real).

[deck]

These are the tank days. Stats at this time don’t mean much. Btw he’s averaging 7 ppg. Not sure where we got 14 ppg.
Bottom line when the games matter Banton is nowhere to be seen.

14 ppg since joining Portland and getting consistent minutes.

[Mark_83]

These are the tank days. Stats at this time don’t mean much. Btw he’s averaging 7 ppg. Not sure where we got 14 ppg.
Bottom line when the games matter Banton is nowhere to be seen.

He's averaging 7ppg ON THE SEASON, which includes his time in Boston. He's averaging 14ppg with Portland. Hope that helps.

[SpezNc]

I was under the impression that it was Banton who decide to leave to not plays in his hometown instead of Raptors giving up too soon .

[Duffman100]

Let’s wait and see if he can actually produce stats for winning basketball. He’s been a negative on the court the majority of games he’s played.

Eldrid Payton put up triple doubles down the stretch of multiple seasons. When it came to the next season and produced when it mattered, he couldn’t.

[TravisScott55]

He needed to get away from his hometown.

[YogurtProducer]

Averaging 14ppg on below average efficiency while on a hot streak from 3 is not as promising as you think

[OakleyDokely]

I like Dalano more than most, and I wanted to keep him, but I'm always leary of guys who start putting up big counting stats rather inefficiently (53 TS%) on tanking teams in mostly blowout losses. I think there's a role for him in the NBA, but it's probably as a back-up.

[Psubs]

Nope. It's Portland and he's getting lots of burn with no leash. He's still ultimately a 3rd stringer.

He's getting a lot of burn with no leash, and producing. Since when is that a bad thing ? And 3rd stringers cannot put up these type of numbers regardless of how much burn they get.

If Freeman- Liberty was putting up these numbers, the whole board would claim what a steal he was. Nobody would talk about him getting burn with no leash. Stop the hate.

He's like Miles McBride in NY getting PT after moving IQ and Grimes.