4 former Raptors players traded on NBA deadline day
It’s been a busy NBA trade deadline day for the Toronto Raptors.
While the Raptors themselves have only been involved in two deals — sending Dennis Schroder to the Brooklyn Nets and acquiring Canadian forward Kelly Olynyk and guard Ochai Agbaji from the Utah Jazz — plenty of former players have been on the move in other markets.
Here are four players who used to call Toronto home moving on to new destinations.
1. Dalano Banton dealt to Portland
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, guard Dalano Banton was traded from the Boston Celtics to the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday in exchange for a protected second-round pick.
Banton, a Toronto native, was selected 46th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft by Raptors, making him the first Canadian player to be drafted by the franchise.
After averaging 3.7 points per game, the 24-year-old became an unrestricted free agent this past summer when the Raptors declined to offer him a qualifying offer.
2. Yuta Watanabe sent to Memphis
Today, Yuta Watanabe was sent from the Phoenix Suns to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a three-team trade.
Watanabe spent the first two seasons of his NBA career with the Grizzlies before signing with Toronto as a free agent in 2020. It’s the third team the Japanese forward will play on since departing from Toronto prior to last season, having also played on the Brooklyn Nets before coming to Phoenix.
Watanabe averaged 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 88 games for the Raptors across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
3. Malachi Flynn flipped to Detroit
Less than a month after joining the New York Knicks, former Raptors guard Malachi Flynn has been moved yet again.
Flynn was flipped to the Detroit Pistons, his third NBA team in a little over a month, along with Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono, and two second-round picks, in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Drafted in the first round by the Raptors in 2020, Flynn spent four seasons with Toronto. In that time, he averaged 5.4 points, two assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 175 games.
4. Cory Joseph traded to Indiana
Shortly before the 3 pm ET deadline, the Golden State Warriors traded Cory Joseph (and cash) to the Indiana Pacers for a second-round pick, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Back in 2015, Joseph, a Toronto native signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Raptors as a free agent. Toronto traded him to the Pacers two years later in exchange for the draft rights of Emir Preldžić.
The seasoned Canadian guard, with a career-spanning 816 games across six teams including the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons, and Warriors, holds averages of 6.9 points and 3.0 assists.
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With files from Daily Hive’s Adam Laskaris