Did we give up on Banton too soon?

[Kingsway_fan]

I wish Ochai would put up stats on a crap team

Nah.. our scrubs are real scrubs....

[Los_29]

There is no difference to what Banton is doing now than what guys like Sharpe and Eubanks did in years past. We see it every year.

Key for Banton is finding a team that is willing to give him a chance to play minutes in meaningful games for a team with some sort of structure. If that happens, Banton is going to need to contribute in others areas and be more efficient. If he can’t do that then he probably won’t stick around in this league.

[Duffman100]

There is no difference to what Banton is doing now than what guys like Sharpe and Eubanks did in years past. We see it every year.

Key for Banton is finding a team that is willing to give him a chance to play minutes in meaningful games for a team with some sort of structure. If that happens, Banton is going to need to contribute in others areas and be more efficient. If he can’t do that then he probably won’t stick around in this league.

Yeah exactly. I'm not sure why "let's wait and see" is such a controversial take.

Could he be a valuable bench player next year? Maybe.
Could this be a flash in the pan in no consequence games? Maybe.

Wait until next year and teams are trying to win.

[OakleyDokely]

Right now Banton is being used like a top scoring option. No team in the NBA, including Portland will use him like that when the games actually matter. It's Banton's secondary skills that will determine whether he can make it as a rotation player in the league.

[HiJiNX]

Fantastic game by Banton against a tough Magic squad. Also, so far Scoot really really has shown low BBIQ. Too early to say bust but he sucks so far.

AND he was a positive in the plus minus category.

Now I think it’s important to mention that it’s smart to take a wait and see approach but Banton’s swing skill was always his jump shot and he would have to take care of the ball better. He appears to have improved in both areas. I think it’s viable to say we need to see this production be more consistent but I don’t think it’s fair to completely discount some of these performances. Most players are inefficient at the start of their careers (which is essentially where Banton is at when we take opportunities to play into account). Now can he take his flashes and build upon them to make a more consistent and thus more playable player? Maybe. But I think there’s evidence indicating that he’s moving in the right direction. He will need a team to continue giving him reps next season.

[And1Skip]

Jordan Nwora had several games like these over the last 10-15 games last season for Indiana yet he was a throw-in for a trade to us.

[Tha Cynic]

Delano is kind of following the path that microwave scorers take. Ultimately he may not be someone who will be a huge impact player on a great team, but he can become a guy who makes a lot of money and can in the right situation be a good option off the bench.

He seems that have made the right career decision if he was dealing with a lot of off court distractions.

What I'm more impressed with is how well Canadian players (whether it be the most talented or the role player types) are starting to collectively figure it out and improve. We have come a long way since the draft bust years of guys like Wiggins and Bennett where you wondered whether it was a good idea to draft Canadians to now almost being a high chance that they will be good contributors at some point.

[Scase]

lol

This dude thinks taking 14 shots to get 15 points is good.

Stop gaslighting him. Did you look at the stats???

Come on man, I just made $1000, that's a decent chunk of money. I mean, it took me 6 years to make it, but we can ignore that, $1000!!!

[TRik]

Fantastic game by Banton against a tough Magic squad. Also, so far Scoot really really has shown low BBIQ. Too early to say bust but he sucks so far.

AND he was a positive in the plus minus category.

Now I think it’s important to mention that it’s smart to take a wait and see approach but Banton’s swing skill was always his jump shot and he would have to take care of the ball better. He appears to have improved in both areas. I think it’s viable to say we need to see this production be more consistent but I don’t think it’s fair to completely discount some of these performances. Most players are inefficient at the start of their careers (which is essentially where Banton is at when we take opportunities to play into account). Now can he take his flashes and build upon them to make a more consistent and thus more playable player? Maybe. But I think there’s evidence indicating that he’s moving in the right direction. He will need a team to continue giving him reps next season.

Yessir, Delano is having the best period of his career and if you’ve been watching the Blazers’ games often the opposing feed are fawning over him. Now, is that an indication that’s he’s going to be a starter or a 6th man on a good team in this league? no, I get that….but it’s still an indication that the league is noticing his fantastic play. Main thing is he’s showing the league what he needs to and that should be celebrated. I have no doubt he’s earned his next contract, and good for him. Hopefully he sticks in this role with Portland.

And yeah I absolutely wish he was still with us. He would likely be our best player on the floor atm. And how nice would it be to watch someone that shows good basketball instincts and hustle on a losing team.

Anyways, I’m not saying people are ‘haters’ or anything, but I do suspect that not all in this thread are actually watching his games.

[maternal85]

I don't understand where the Ochai hype came from on realgm. Whenever I watched he would clank those corner 3s he was known for. Shows that he is shooting 25% from 3 as a Raptor.

Watch on YouTube

Delano I can understand, dude is like a 6'9 PG putting up great numbers at the end of the season. It becomes a conversation for a player to buy more time to stay in the league.

Ochai on the other hand might be a player right now solely because of Masai Ujiri, not sure if any other executive will take him.

Everyone knows Ochai is garbage. Those claiming he's stephen Curry from the corner 3 are just Banton haters. He couldn't put up the numbers Banton is putting up at the local YMCA.

[Basketball_Jones]

Look, we all saw Dalano here and he looked pretty talented drawing Shaun Livingston hopes. So what he’s doing now is just a bit of confirmation that he has some skills he can put together. No idea if he can continue this in a bench role because your team is shot if he’s your number one option lol. But it’s nice to see he can play and I wish we gave him another shot instead of Flynn. Then again, we’ve seen this story from Stanley Johnson as well. I just have a feeling about Dalano though, just a really solid feel for the game he has.

[YogurtProducer]

Right now Banton is being used like a top scoring option. No team in the NBA, including Portland will use him like that when the games actually matter. It's Banton's secondary skills that will determine whether he can make it as a rotation player in the league.

And his secondary skills franky, suck.

And even right now as the top scoring option, his efficiency (kind of the important part here) also **** sucks.

[YogurtProducer]

I wish Ochai would put up stats on a crap team

and even then it wouldn't mean much because "let's see him do this on a winning team"

My hypothesis is always that the end of the season makes bad players taking lots of shots look better than they are (Banton), it also makes guys who are career role players who are gonna be better in well oiled systems (Agbaji) look a lot worse.

The key thing is to look at players skills. Agbaji has shown us defense and that is an NBA ready skill. Banton has shown us below average efficiency scoring.

That is why game 1 next year Banton will be glued to a bench and why Agbaji will be playing 12-18 minutes off the bench.

[EH15]

Right now Banton is being used like a top scoring option. No team in the NBA, including Portland will use him like that when the games actually matter. It's Banton's secondary skills that will determine whether he can make it as a rotation player in the league.

And his secondary skills franky, suck.

And even right now as the top scoring option, his efficiency (kind of the important part here) also **** sucks.

What do you consider his secondary skills?

[YogurtProducer]

Right now Banton is being used like a top scoring option. No team in the NBA, including Portland will use him like that when the games actually matter. It's Banton's secondary skills that will determine whether he can make it as a rotation player in the league.

And his secondary skills franky, suck.

And even right now as the top scoring option, his efficiency (kind of the important part here) also **** sucks.

What do you consider his secondary skills?

Well anyone who is not a top scoring option needs to fit into a few boxes.

Scorer - no. He might be averaging 16ppg in Portland but he is doing it on 53TS%. That would be 12th last among qualified players.

Shooter - no. He has shot it quite well in Port (36%) but I would be this is a hot streak considering the rest of his career (the fact he has shot it way above his career averages is not a good sign for his TS% above either)

Playmaker - nope. 4.1 to 2.7 AST/TO ratio is just bad

Defender - no, not really. He is not gonna kill a defense but he also is not going to prop it up a ton

So yeah... he really has no place in the NBA as a regular player. He really is all hype right now as you hope the 6'9" guy who can dribble a bit would figure it out, but he really has not. But hey, most 45th picks dont

[srhcan]

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

;pp=ygUNZGFsYW5vIGJhbnRvbg%3D%3D

Watch on YouTube

;pp=ygUNZGFsYW5vIGJhbnRvbg%3D%3D

you mean front office made another bad decision? thats on par with their track record; they would make multiple bad decisions before making a good one, rinse & repeat.

[brownbobcat]

Honestly, some of you guys quote stats with an agenda without watching the game at all. There are anywhere between 250-300 rotation players in the NBA, since when is someone either a top scoring option or else 3&D?

No, I don't think Banton has star potential, but he is noticeably getting better. He could not do anything in the half-court before, he was done if he got cut off. He's markedly better at keeping a live dribble now, really using his size to snake by guys and seal them off. Yes, shooting is important but there still guys in NBA who can find a place without being Ray Allen. Giddey's not a great shooter, neither is Schroder, Westbrook, Suggs, Reggie Jackson, Hachimura, Aaron Gordon, etc.

Yes, he has flaws but tell me why he can't be a backup PG if he keeps improving? Not everyone plays the same way. Bruce Bowen could learn to shoot corner 3s but Banton can't? We're all over the moon with Scottie's improvement from 3pt, and yet Banton is right there at a respectable 34% on shooting above-break 3s. Obviously he doesn't have the same potential athletically, but he's a very mobile 6'9" and shows the ability to create mismatches and switch decently. Achiuwa has the court awareness of a toddler and he still has a role in the NBA despite his weaknesses and atypical profile.

[Duffman100]

Yes, he has flaws but tell me why he can't be a backup PG if he keeps improving?

I think like 99% of us (outside of maybe YP) are saying that he CAN. We just don't know until games actually start to matter again, people are slotted into their regular roles and winning matters again. That these stretches can and have regularly been false positives in terms of players.

[brownbobcat]

Yes, he has flaws but tell me why he can't be a backup PG if he keeps improving?

I think like 99% of us (outside of maybe YP) are saying that he CAN. We just don't know until games actually start to matter again, people are slotted into their regular roles and winning matters again. That these stretches can and have regularly been false positives in terms of players.

None of Portland's games have mattered this season - and that's arguably true for 90% of the Raptors' season too. I just find it way too convenient that some think Banton's stats mean absolutely nothing but it's worthwhile talking about Gradey's 1 good month. Maybe (probably) Banton isn't 16 PPG good, but he's showing something here. I just think this blind adherence to certain archetypes is bunk, especially when you can make a very good case that the BBQ core is equally non-conventional in their own right.

[Duffman100]

Yes, he has flaws but tell me why he can't be a backup PG if he keeps improving?

I think like 99% of us (outside of maybe YP) are saying that he CAN. We just don't know until games actually start to matter again, people are slotted into their regular roles and winning matters again. That these stretches can and have regularly been false positives in terms of players.

None of Portland's games have mattered this season - and that's arguably true for 90% of the Raptors' season too. I just find it way too convenient that some think Banton's stats mean absolutely nothing but it's worthwhile talking about Gradey's 1 good month. Maybe (probably) Banton isn't 16 PPG good, but he's showing something here. I just think this blind adherence to certain archetypes is bunk, especially when you can make a very good case that the BBQ core is equally non-conventional in their own right.

Because Gradey is 20 years old, top pick in the draft and in his rookie season vs a 24 year old drafted in the late 2nd who is on his 3rd team.

The reason why people are trying to stir up this argument is to use it as fodder in their never ending anti Masai arguments.

When in reality, we just wait a year and it'll be answered. Much like Kessler is no longer a topic of never ending conversation on this board.