The following is part of Raptors Republic’s series of pieces reviewing the season for the Toronto Raptors. You can find all the pieces in the series here.
Non-lottery picks in the first round are as fickle as spring weather in Toronto. One day beautiful, heaven like, full of promise and wonder. The next dreary, dismal, a complete wash. You may as well just stay inside and wait for tomorrow (or the next draft).
The picks that pan out often have beginnings to their careers as mercurial as our weather apps. A.J. Griffin, Bones Hyland, Quentin Grimes, and Tre Mann are all examples of players whose roles fluctuated significantly in the early going, with some of seeing their initial success ebb and flow and others disappearing from the league entirely (Griffin – retirement, Hyland – G League).
Even though it’s sucked outside this week in the city, there is no doubt that warm, sunny days are ahead. That much can be relied on. While a bright future is not guaranteed for Toronto Raptors wing Ja’Kobe Walter, he does seem to be a rising sun for the team. In his rookie year he flashed a skillset that should provide a sound floor as a rotation player and he also has some ceiling to dream on.
After missing most of camp, the entire pre-season, and the Raptors’ first five games with a sprained right AC joint, Walter burst onto the scene in his debut. He didn’t make his shots – which was a general theme to start his season – and the results weren’t good, but his flurry of movement, screening, cutting, and rebounding made him seem like an immediate fit with the Raptors process-wise.
Four games later he re-sprained the AC joint and proceeded to miss another nine games, for a total of the 14 of Toronto’s first 18. When he did start playing consistently, the results were understandably turbulent. There were encouraging outliers such a 19-point night against the New York Knicks and a (career-high) 27-point night against the Houston Rockets, both on good efficiency. But he mostly struggled on offence averaging 7.0 points on 39% shooting and 29% from 3 in the first half of his season.
Walter came into the league with the reputation of being one of the best shooters in his draft class. While he shot only 34% from 3 at Baylor, he averaged 6.3 attempts, and his shot diet was extremely difficult – think sprinting into 3s and pull-ups galore. Walter also has sound, quiet shot mechanics, making him seem like a good bet to shoot well off the catch. He projected as a potentially elite shooter.
So, there was little reason to panic when the efficiency wasn’t there over the first half of the season. Adjustments to the NBA’s physicality, spacing, new 3-point arc, yada yada. In the second half of Walter’s season (the final 26 of his 52 total games), both his volume and efficiency ticked up from deep. He shot 39.4% while his attempts leapt from 3.2 to 4.0 per game.
Walter’s rookie season was truly a tale of two halves offensively, just like the wing the Raptors took in the first round before him, Gradey Dick.
| Time period | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
| First half (26 games) | 7.0 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 39.1% | 29.3% | 67.6% |
| Second half (26 games) | 10.3 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 41.5% | 39.4% | 89.1% |
In the end he was better on more difficult above the break shots (37%) than from the corners (33%), shot 37% on catch-and-shoot 3s and 23% on pull-up triples.
When it came to creating for himself, or even for others, Walter showed glimpses of promise. Step-back 3s as a pick n’ roll ball-handler, finding open shooters after driving into the paint off closeouts. This is the kind of stuff that would elevate him to the next level (a starter, better?) if it hits. But for the most part, he couldn’t conjure up advantageous situations out of thin air. His dribble is very much oriented for straight line drives, rather than lateral movement. Wriggle, not wiggle. The potential self-creation is intriguing though; he has simple mechanics and looked exceedingly comfortable getting to his jumper when he did end up in the teeth of the defence.
Walter also made the Raptors’ signature game-winner of the season, perhaps the play most emblematic of the Toronto’s final quarter of 2024-25. The organization embarrassingly trying to lose – egg on their face – and the players prevailing despite it.
While the offence and shot making took time to come around, Walter’s defence jumped out almost instantly and was far better than expected. It was easily the biggest surprise of his year and one of the primary reasons why he should be a snug fit in the Raptors’ rotation going forward.
The best word to describe Walter’s on-ball defence is sticky. He was difficult to shake, staying in front of his assignment and often curving opponents drives. Despite only being listed at six-foot-five and 180 pounds (I’d bet he’s a little heavier than this) and appearing to be fairly slight, he did well with physicality, often standing strong and not being bumped off his spot. Walter was one of the best isolation defenders on the team, no small feat for a rookie. And he has plenty of upside as a rebounder for a small wing, displaying strong instincts and consistently making the extra effort on the glass.
The one area where he struggled was screen navigation. He was cited by Raptors Republic’s Samson Folk as being a 1st percentile defender when guarding the pick n’ roll ball-handler per synergy data. This should improve as Walter puts on additional muscle and learns through experience, but he either got caught on screens or messed up the coverage a lot and progress is needed.
Because of the high floor Walter provides on defence and the 3-point shot, he has more or less safely carved out a rotation spot for himself next season. If he’s able to generate even more offence attacking closeouts, out of the pick n’ roll or even from a standstill, that would be gravy. Sure, Walter’s presence in the Raptors rotation isn’t promised, but I’d say it’s almost as sure of a bet as some warmer days on the horizon.
