Watch. Malachi Smith is playing 35.4 minutes a night over his last 5 games, against a 23.9 season average.
That jump has come with a role change: he has started 5 straight games after a prior start rate of 30% across his first 15 games this season. His minutes over the last 10 sit at 26.6, still climbing toward that last-5 number.
The production has followed, though not as sharply as the minutes. He is at 21.3 FPG over his last 10 against 19.5 for the season, up 1.8.
He ranks 226th in FPG on the year, so this is still a name most leagues can find on the wire.
The sample here is five games. If Toronto's rotation reshuffles or a teammate returns to eat into those minutes, this run stops fast.