Raptors: Flynn looks for answers in G League after pep talk from Siakam
Malachi Flynn will work on his basketball skills while he’s with the G League’s Raptors 905.
He will hopefully improve his defence and his ball handling and his decision-making, all skills that NBA rookies have to hone.
But Flynn will benefit as well from the life lessons imparted by 905 coach Patrick Mutombo, whose job goes far beyond developing on-court tricks and techniques.
“It’s my responsibility to be here beyond the X’s and O’s,” Mutombo said this week, before Flynn was sent down by the Raptors. “These are people, people with dreams and aspirations and goals, and I find myself in this leadership position to be able to help them with those goals and (to) achieve those goals.”
The reality of Flynn’s position is that he’s good but needs work, and it will be a measure of his maturity to see how he handles the obvious disappointment of going to the G League.
The Raptors certainly haven’t given up on him, nor have his teammates. They see the promise, and understand how he must feel.
“I think when you get drafted in the first round and all that you want to be out there playing in the league, and being sent to the G League can feel like you’re going backwards, but you can’t have that mentality,” said Pascal Siakam, who spent a large portion of his first NBA season commuting between Toronto and the 905 home base in Mississauga.
Mutumbo, who took over the G League team this season after five years on the Raptors staff, certainly has the expertise to teach the game. He also has the background for teaching how to be a pro.
“I was fortunate enough to have played professionally, and I also played in the G League and I coached in the G League before, so I understand the reality of their position and (how to) able to relate to them in a way that’s very personal,” he said. “I’m not imagining. I’ve been where they’ve been. I’ve been hopeful, and I’ve had my hope denied and I’ve had to find another route to success.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s part of my job to make sure that guys are hopeful as they’re chasing their dream, but also … they have a place where they can hear the truth and reality and help them get to whatever that next is.”
It’s obvious to all that Flynn’s next step will be back to the NBA, but sending down the six-foot guard was a logical move. The 22-year-old needs to practise and play and work out flaws in his growing game, and that wasn’t happening with the Raptors.
There will be precious little practice time in the coming weeks — the Raptors began a grind of nine games in 15 nights on Friday in Brooklyn — and games are too important to have Flynn learn on the fly in NBA competition. He has the skills to be very good. They just need to be honed.
“I think we know he can score,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I just think that playing all facets, upping the defence intensity up the floor, finding his teammates out of the pick-androll, hitting the roller, getting it out, running the team, all those kinds of things” are areas he needs to work on in Orlando.
Siakam has been there, done that. He understands what Flynn needs to do, and told him as much when news of his departure hit this week.
“I said: Show that you belong in the league, show your leadership … It’s a good opportunity for you and don’t take it for granted,” Siakam said. “Don’t go out there moping around and stuff. You’ve got to take it as an opportunity and just go out there and try to run with it.”
Flynn should clear G League quarantine this weekend and be on the court with the Raptors 905 by Sunday. The team opens its 15-game regular season on Wednesday night with the first of three games in four nights.
Flynn can be recalled by the Raptors at any time and would be eligible to play right away. Because of the proximity of Orlando to their temporary Tampa home base, he could travel without taking a commercial flight and be eligible to play immediately.