Entering the 2022 – 2023 season, all eyes are on Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes. The reigning Rookie of the Year had an impressive run last year as one of the team's best players last year. Now, fans are expecting Barnes to take another significant leap next season in their quest for playoff success.

Barnes headlines an impressive cast of young players for the Raptors next season. Players like Precious Achiuwa, OG Anunoby, and even Gary Trent Jr are looked at as enticing prospects for the team. Lost in all the shuffle, though, is a certain point guard drafted two years ago.

Malachi Flynn has to be one of the most confounding names in the Raptors' list of young players. He was drafted two years ago as the potential heir apparent to Kyle Lowry's playmaking skill. Two years in, however, and Flynn has been maddeningly inconsistent for the team. He's had his flashes of brilliance, but he has been often overshadowed by other names on the roster.

Recently, though, Raptors fans have once again been drawn in by Flynn's potential. The reason? Two big games by Flynn in the Pro-Am circuit. Malachi Flynn first drew headlines when he dropped a whopping 73 points in Seattle's CrawsOver league.

A few weeks later, Flynn's name once again made the rounds on Twitter, this time on a slightly grander stage. Playing in the esteemed Drew League, the Raptors guard dropped a whopping 52 points. Suddenly, Malachi Flynn was once again trending on NBA Twitter. (via ClutchPoints)

Malachi Flynn's breakout-or-bust 2022 season for Raptors

The 2022 – 2023 season is a crucial one for Malachi Flynn. The Raptors clearly have a direction they want to go to in building their roster: draft a bunch of long playmaking forwards and see what happens. They were infamous last season for sporting lineups where no player stood over 6'7. That already is a disadvantage for Flynn, who stands at just 6'1.

Despite his height disadvantage, Flynn has a unique opportunity to be a key contributor for the Raptors next season. Taking a look at the Raptors roster, it becomes painfully clear that the team has a severe lack of depth at the guard positions. Point guard is a bit of an issue, as there's no other natural PG on the roster after Fred VanVleet… aside from Malachi Flynn, of course.

That gaping hole at PG leaves the door open for a breakout season for Flynn. The Raptors tried different looks at the backup point guard last season… to varying results. Dalano Banton looked promising on defense, but his lack of a decent three-point stroke was worrying. They tried to deploy Scottie Barnes at PG, which was… interesting, to say the least. We even saw some lineups where Pascal Siakam was the lead playmaker!

Still, it would greatly benefit the Raptors to have a legitimate backup point guard (even if he doesn't fit their current roster directive). In theory, Malachi Flynn could provide the Raptors with a solid playmaking option at the one. His bread-and-butter is the pick-and-roll, something that most of the Raps' forwards can thrive on. Flynn's three-point shooting also helps Siakam and Barnes breathe on offense, giving them more space to work in isolation.

We've already seen flashes of what Flynn can bring to the Raptors on a nightly basis last season. As the team's depth took a hit night in and night out, Flynn stepped in to provide some stability to the crumbling Toronto depth. He balled out in his few appearances, including a massive game in which he was  +42 off the bench.

Flynn's two viral games in the Pro-Am prove that he's ready to take the next leap in his NBA career. Can the Raptors guard finally fulfill his full potential and be the breakout star the team needs next year?