It took four seasons for Malachi Flynn to show he’s an NBA rotation player but faith from the Toronto Raptors appears to be paying off.
That’s not to say he’s solidified anything at this point. But it’s clear progress is being made by the fourth-year guard who has put together the best stretch of impactful basketball of his career, capping that off with a stellar performance Wednesday night that earned him Toronto’s post-game ‘Win The Day’ chain.
A year ago, Flynn likely never would have been given a chance to play through his early-season mistakes. He only once appeared in 15 consecutive games last year and that stretch saw his minutes fluctuate from as many as 37 minutes to as few as just three.
This year, though, the Raptors have kept Flynn in the loop with consistent playing time. He’s been the leader of Toronto’s second unit whenever Dennis Schröder comes out and, despite some early-season hiccups, he’s turned things around.
“Malachi was great, man. I love his energy,” said Pascal Siakam. “I always see Malachi getting his work in every single day. I can see his focus is different. He comes into the game with a different approach and he’s just locked in.”
A lot of this turnaround, Siakam said, can be attributed to Flynn knowing what to expect from his role. Flynn knows when he’s going to get his minutes and he’s not looking over his shoulder wondering when he’s going to be yanked from the rotation.
“He's confident out there, picking up full court, guarding, making the right plays. I think that's the most important for him,” Siakam continued. “I just wanted to continue to do that.”
Flynn started his minutes with two three-pointers on Wednesday. He beat Obi Toppin with a layup at the rim after an overly aggressive closeout and then added two more layups in the fourth quarter to record a season-high 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
“I saw a lot of passion,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “I saw desire to help the team, to do his job and he stepped on the court, defended really well. He was aggressive.”
Flynn isn’t going to be that good every night, but if he’s able to be more consistent on a nightly basis, limiting the dud performances and keeping that kind of intensity at both ends even when his shots aren’t falling, it’ll go a long way to helping Toronto’s second unit this season.
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