The Toronto Raptors have had a major roster overhaul this past season.
They made some significant moves to change the direction of their team. In the process of shaking things up, the Raptors had to lose some players.
Here are two former Raptors players who have been thriving elsewhere.
Dalano Banton
Dalano Banton spent two seasons with the Raptors but never got much playing time to prove himself. He was an unrestricted free agent this past summer after the Raptors declined to offer the Rexdale guard a qualifying offer.
As a result the 6’8″ guard signed a two year, $4.2 million deal with the Boston Celtics, suiting up in 24 games for them. He was then traded by the Celtics to the Portland Trail Blazers on Feb. 8.
Banton has since found his footing with the Blazers as the 24-year-old is playing the best basketball of his career. He is coming off a 31 point, 9 assist and 5 rebound outing against the Atlanta Hawks. In the game before that he dropped 28 points, had 11 rebounds and 5 assists against the Houston Rockets.
In 23 games with the Blazers, Banton is averaging 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 27.3 minutes per game. The Blazers are in a rebuild so Banton is going to continue to get plenty of opportunities, especially with how well he has been playing.
Precious Achiuwa
One of the biggest moves the Raptors made this season was trading O.G. Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks.
Achiuwa was supposed to be a part of the Raptors youth movement, but he never quite developed the way Toronto had expected. He struggled to find any form of consistency during his Raptors tenure.
With New York however, Achiuwa has been hitting his stride
Achiuwa put up 19 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks on 8-for-13 shooting from the field against the Raptors in his return to Toronto.
In 41 games with the Knicks, Achiuwa is averaging 8.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 26 minutes per game. Tom Thibodeau seems to trust him as a key rotation piece and he has been big for the Knicks especially with Julius Randle out.
It is a shame that Banton and Achiuwa never panned out for the Raptors. However, it seemed like Banton needed a change of scenery and Achiuwa was a big trade chip that landed the Raptors two core pieces.
Overall, things worked out for the best.
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