Malachi Flynn (born May 9, 1998) () is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program com ...

and the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...

High school career

Flynn is the youngest of seven children. He stood 5'2 in his freshman season in high school, then grew to 5'6 as a sophomore before a growth spurt made him his current height of 6'1. As a senior at Bellarmine Prep, Flynn averaged 29.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 48 percent from the floor. He earned a host of accolades, including

The News Tribune ''The News Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020. With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper w ...

's All-Area player of the year,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

Washington player of the year, the Class 4A player of the year by the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association, and the 4A Narrows League MVP as a senior. His 743 points as a senior set the single-season mark at Bellarmine Prep, and he finished with 1,625 career points, second to Abdul Gaddy. Flynn originally committed to

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

before reopening his recruitment late in the signing period. He signed with the

on April 13, 2016.

College career

In November 2016, Flynn scored 27 points in an 83–76 victory over

Utah Valley Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, which is sixth most for a Cougar freshman in history. As a freshman at Washington State, he averaged 9.7 points per game and shot 38.7 percent from three-point range. Flynn averaged 15.8 points and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the field as a sophomore. He was the top player on a team that finished 12–19. Following the season, Flynn announced he was transferring. After receiving interest from Gonzaga,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, Baylor and Creighton, Flynn signed with

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in May 2018. Coming into his redshirt junior season, Flynn was named the preseason Mountain West player of the year by Mountain West Wire. In a game in which he otherwise shot poorly, Flynn hit a last-second three-point shot on December 8 to defeat

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

59–57. He was named to the midseason watchlist for the

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

. On February 29, 2020, Flynn scored a career-high 36 points, the most by any Aztec since 2005, shooting 13-of-20 from the floor in an 83–76 comeback win over

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, Flynn was named Mountain West Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game. Following the season, Flynn declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Professional career

Toronto Raptors (2020–present)

Flynn was selected with the 29th pick in the first round of the

by the

, the first San Diego State player to be drafted in the first round since

Kawhi Leonard Kawhi Anthony Leonard ( ; born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time NBA champion, he is a five-time All-Star with three All-NBA ...

in 2011. He made his debut for the Raptors on December 23, 2020, playing one minute against the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 3, 2021, Flynn was assigned to the Raptors'

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

. On February 18, 2021, Flynn was recalled from his NBA G League assignment. On April 10, 2021, Flynn scored a then career-high 20 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists with two rebounds and steals in a 135–115 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. On April 14, 2021, Flynn scored a new career-high 22 points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 103–108 loss against the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. On May 4, 2021, Flynn was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for April 2021. On March 4, 2022, Flynn scored a season-high 20 points, alongside three rebounds and eight assists, in a 97–103 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, 47 , , 14 , , 19.7 , , .374 , , .321 , , .804 , , 2.5 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 44 , , 5 , , 12.2 , , .393 , , .333 , , .625 , , 1.4 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 53 , , 2 , , 13.0 , , .360 , , .353 , , .758 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 144 , , 21 , , 15.0 , , .374 , , .335 , , .752 , , 1.8 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 6 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , — , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 6 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , — , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, 31 , , 30 , , 33.1 , , .395 , , .387 , , .735 , , 2.9 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .0 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 30 , , 33.4 , , .413 , , .338 , , .846 , , 3.4 , , 4.3 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 33.4 , , .441 , , .373 , , .857 , , 4.5 , , 5.1 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 17.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 94 , , 92 , , 33.3 , , .420 , , .363 , , .833 , , 3.6 , , 4.1 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 14.4

References

External links

San Diego State Aztecs bioWashington State Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Malachi 1998 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Tacoma, Washington Point guards Raptors 905 players San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball players Toronto Raptors draft picks Toronto Raptors players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players