Their record may not reflect it due to early-season injuries, but the Portland Trail Blazers quietly got better this past offseason. Some of that was due to addition by subtraction, and there may be no better example of that than their decision to let Dalano Banton walk in free agency.
Portland essentially picked Blake Wesley over Banton as the final guard, who was proving to be a much better fit for their defensive identity prior to suffering a right foot fracture. Offensively, Portland also wanted to emphasize more overall movement as a team that was entirely too stagnant last season. Banton played a considerable role in that as a guard who is overly ball-dominant.
Blazers proven right to cut ties with Dalano Banton
That's where the polarizing nature of his game comes in. Simply going off counting stats, Banton was coming off a productive 2024-25 season, averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 rebounds. Not bad for an end-of-the-bench player, especially when considering the microwave scoring ability that singlehandedly won Portland a few games. However, the lack of playmaking ability, when paired with his inefficient scoring, is not a winning formula.
He's at his best with the ball in his hands as a high-volume scorer, which is not a trait that typically translates to a successful role player at the NBA level. That's why Portland was wise to move on from their jumbo guard despite his surface-level production.
Unfortunately for Banton, other teams around the league came to this same conclusion as well.
He auditioned for multiple teams this offseason, including the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers, who ultimately passed. He was receiving interest from teams overseas, but decided to continue fighting for a spot in the NBA at just 26 years old.
Banton eventually landed with the Dallas Mavericks organization but was waived after just one preseason game in which he finished with three points in six minutes. That move was to set Banton up to play in the G League as their affiliate, the Texas Legends, holds the rights to Banton.
Unsurprisingly, Banton is thriving as a primary offensive option for the Legends. In 14 games played, he's averaging 24.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.9 rebounds on 47/36/87 shooting splits.
He's making a case to earn an NBA spot with those numbers. But will he ever be able to figure out how to effectively scale his role at the next level? That's the pressing question that will determine his career trajectory.
But for now, the Blazers were right to bet against it as they look to play a brand of basketball more conducive to winning.