We’re keeping the ball rolling when it comes to highlighting the Raptors’ large group of draft prospects this year. Remember to check out the reports on Ja’Kobe Walter and Jonathan Mogbo if you haven’t already.
Up today we have the 2024 Naismith DPOY for the Houston Cougars — and someone who will inevitably draw comparisons to Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet: Jamal Shead.
Jamal Shead | 6’0 | Guard | Houston | 22 years old
The Intro
I went into the second day of the draft expecting the Raptors to be done after picking Mogbo at 31. Masai and Bobby have a reputation for playing it too safe, especially when it comes to trades, so I wasn’t expecting much movement after both have publicly decried this class as being flat talent-wise. After trading a first round pick (which would later become Isaiah Collier) for Ochai Agbaji and Kelly Olynyk at the deadline and telling everybody that they traded the pick because they didn’t feel the need to develop too many young players at once, I was kind of surprised to see them buy not one but two extra picks in this class, going against that prior messaging.
I understand it though. This class was pretty rough around the edges, and you want to have as many shots at the dartboard as you can get to try and make sure at least one of your players stick around.
Enter Jamal Shead at pick 45 (confusing fit considering his pick was part of the package with Davion Mitchell, but we’ll get to that later), the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. Crowned as the best defensive player in all of college basketball, Jamal Shead makes for a pretty obvious value play with role-player upside when you’re this late into the second round. The Raptors love their short point guards with defensive chops (hell, they’ve rehashed this archetype like… 5 times now) so I can’t say I was too surprised to see his name called at their pick.
Ranked at 28 on my board, Shead is my highest ranked player of the three that the Raptors took in the 2nd round. Let’s dive into why.
The Offence
It’s a good thing Shead is such a great defensive player because his results on the offensive side of the ball leave much to be desired. I joke about comparing him to the short defensive Raptors guards of years past, but he’s still a loooooong way away from being a shooter like Lowry or VanVleet.
The comparisons can pick back up when looking at Shead as a playmaker, however.
Patient and accurate with his dimes, Shead ran a tight ship and was a vocal floor general for the Cougars. Averaging over 8 assists per 40 minutes puts Shead in the upper echelon of college playmakers and means he should be comfortable running the show off the bench in some circumstances. If he’s mostly expected to be a G League presence as a rookie, then the 905 will likely have one of the best floor generals in the farm system.
The shooting is a problem. 30.9% from three, similarly bad percentages on catch and shoot jumpers and from the midrange. Shead is kind of the polar opposite of Fred VanVleet when it comes to shot efficiency, because while he’s bad from beyond the arc, he has pretty soft touch and posted a touch over 60% at the rim. If he wants to stay on the floor to utilize his defence and playmaking, he’s going to need to improve as a shooter, or else he could be in for a short career as a specialist.
Shead has a floater game, luckily, so his shot diet isn’t totally anemic. Connecting on those types of shots will help open up his game a bit while he works on developing and stretching out beyond the arc.
Shead also has some nice shiftiness to his game. Patient and measured more often than not, he has some slept on pop that he likes to show off sometimes.
The Defence
Despite all of Shead’s weaknesses offensively, I still had him at 28th on my board in this class – a first round prospect. A big reason for that is due to his defensive dominance.
Like other small, defensively inclined guards, Shead makes a living by being an absolute pest and getting in the face or underneath every player he guards. He’s strong and stocky which makes up for his lack of size. He recovers quickly if shifted off of his spot.
While he still struggles to stay in front of bigger players, he at least fights to get a deflection or a steal if switched on to one. Speaking of deflections and steals, Shead led the Cougars in both categories in his junior and senior seasons. He had 17 blocks as a senior as well. All around, his defensive tenacity is just aggressive.
Shead is a wild force on the defensive end, constantly moving his feet and hips to try and poke any holes in his target’s offensive game.
Shead does all the little things as well; drawing charges, diving on loose balls, putting his body on the line to make a play. These types of players are quick fan favourites in Toronto and I don’t think Shead will be an exception to that.
Brendan’s Take
We’re at the point in the draft where if you can get somebody (anybody) to stick on your team, you can say you’ve done well for yourself. Jamal Shead should at least stick around for the duration of his contract due to his defensive ability and playmaking acumen. His overall basketball IQ is second to none in this class, and he’s the type of guard that every team would want on their team in terms of competitiveness and leadership. If Shead can become even remotely competent as a three point shooter, I definitely wouldn’t object to keeping him around in the mid to long term as the backup PG.
Taking both Shead and Mogbo as guaranteed second round contracts was a bit of a return back to the Raptors’ typical draft philosophy of “defence-first because we can teach shooting” (they have yet to prove that they can do that, actually). I don’t know if that’s the combo of players I would’ve gone for here since the team still does have some pretty major spacing problems, especially in the front court, but it’s a combo of high IQ defensive guys, which the team still has a dire need for off the bench.
I mentioned the confusing fit with Davion Mitchell before. The Portland 2025 2nd round pick was clearly the biggest get in that trade in terms of assets, and I’m really not a fan of Mitchell as a player — he’s been terrible the last two seasons and even during his rookie season where he posted higher stats, he was very inefficient. Shead gives you far more to work with as a defender and playmaker, so I would be surprised if Mitchell is ahead of him in the rotation for long. I wouldn’t hesitate to swap looks between Mitchell and Shead as the season goes on to generate some internal competition for that backup 1 spot. I’d argue that Shead makes far more sense long term.
We got one more scouting report before I get to take a break and prep for the 2025 class. Ulrich Chomche is coming up next.
See ya next time.
