Trail Blazers News: How Dalano Banton Capitalized On Big Minutes With Portland

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 18, 2024

Apr 14, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Dalano Banton (5). / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

When several of the point guards in front of him got shelved due to a litany of injuries later into the 2023-24 season, the Portland Trail Blazers' intriguing, jumbo-sized young point guard Dalano Banton saw a huge chance to spread his wings with his third club in three seasons. He jumped on it.

Libaan Osman of The Toronto Star inked a two-year, $4.2 million contract with the Boston Celtics as a free agent last summer, but was flipped to Portland midseason. Upon arriving in Rip City, Banton spoke with Portland's top decision maker in the front office, general manager Joe Cronin, about hopefully carving out minutes than he had with the contending Celtics.

“I got to talk to Joe Cronin, our GM here," Banton told Osman. "He told me early on the phone that I’d have a great opportunity here to be aggressive and show what I can do.”

“I think everyone wants the chance to show what they can do and make a name for themselves,” Banton, a 6'9" point guard out of the University of Nebraska, noted. “I just looked at it that way. I know I’ve been sitting on the bench for three years in this league, I know that time was of the essence in my third year."

“I’m not saying I didn’t have an opportunity at other places. I just never made the most of it,” Banton acknowledge.

Well, it's safe to say that he did now. In his 30 games with the Blazers this season, Banton averaged 16.7 points on a slash line of .408/.311/.780, 4.8 boards, 3.6 dishes, 0.9 steals and 0.6 rejections across 29.2 minutes a night.

“Dude coming off the bench scoring 30, bro,” starting Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton said. “That s—t ain’t easy to do at all. He did it on a consistent basis, too, in front of us. He has a little swag, too ... he’s quiet, but he’s deadly.”