The Lord of the Rings began, as many worthwhile stories do, by introducing you to its main heroes: Gandalf and the hobbits. Soon after came Aragorn, then called Strider. They are terrific, of course.
But other, perhaps equally compelling characters come later in the trilogy. Some enter the action much later, not even appearing in depth until later books / movies. Gollum doesn’t appear in great detail until the second iteration. The same with Faramir, brother of Boromir.
The Lord of the Rings is in many ways so brilliant because the characters it brings off the bench are just as impactful, have just as much depth, and are just as compelling as those that start out in the game. A strong bench can turn goodness into greatness. This is just as true for high fantasy as it is for basketball.
In many ways, the Toronto Raptors have not had a great bench for a long time. In 2024-25, the Raptors ranked 26th in bench net rating, at negative-3.1. The Raptors haven’t seen a positive net rating from the bench since 2021-22, when the team won 48 games (ahh, the halcyon days of winning basketball), and Chris Boucher saw a career high in minutes. He has been a boost for a long time.
Where is Toronto’s Faramir?
This past season, the Raptors had plenty of exciting prospects, but only one who could stabilize the team and boost its performance beyond that of the starters. (Well outside of Boucher, who again had a hugely positive on/off net rating, but really played too few minutes to change the team’s bench outlook.) The one player who was able to stabilize Toronto in real minutes off the bench was Ja’Kobe Walter.
Walter had a slightly positive on/off net rating in over 1000 minutes for Toronto (which is still quite few for a major bench piece). He was almost always solid, defending well, cutting with frantic verve, and hitting enough of his jumpers (34.9 percent from deep) to matter. At his best, he sparked excitement, runs, and wins. Not to mention a game-winning soccer throw-in. The solidity and defence will likely be what matter most this upcoming season. Toronto can expect him to enter the game, defend initiating guards, and make few mistakes.
But Walter couldn’t dribble past his man from a standstill. He showed no improvement to that ability in Summer League, facing lesser defenders. It’s unlikely Walter can offer more than solidity until he adds more to his north-south game. He needs to finish better at the rim, and his 3-point jumper is adequate, but certainly no better than adequate. There is much he needs to add in order to become a real bench great.
Jamal Shead may be mastering effort, which will always result in a high floor, but he too has some limitations that can mean he loses his minutes off the bench. He doesn’t do enough to tilt defences with the ball in his hands, so he has trouble getting the wheels of the offensive system rolling. His jumper is less threatening than Walter’s. Shead had one of the worst on/off marks on the team last year, and he has much to improve in order to start winning his minutes. I believe he can get there, but as early as next season might be a difficult expectation.
Jonathan Mogbo still has difficulty helping an offence, and he seemed lost last season when he was playing anywhere but at center. He has to improve at the basics there, planting screens, rolling with different rhythms, and finishing better. The finishing was improved at Summer League, but it’s much, much easier for bigs to finish at Summer League than in the NBA. Collin Murray-Boyles is completely unproven (but very, very promising). Sandro Mamukelashvili is slightly older and perhaps more proven, though his defence is less impactful than that of Toronto’s other big options off the bench.
Gradey Dick’s offensive pace and creation (with his legs) are likely the best individual skills on the bench (unless Murray-Boyles’ defence pops), and the Raptors were much better last season offensively with Dick on the court, which remained true in the numbers even after a mid-season slump. But his individual defence is as great a limitation as Mogbo’s offence, and with the Raptors trying to win (finally) next season, if Dick’s defence doesn’t deliver, he may find himself out of the rotation for stretches. Ochai Agbaji was practically perfect in his role last season, and the Raptors were still worse with him on the floor than the bench.
Is there a Faramir there for the Raptors? Someone who can enter the game and redefine its very essence?
Toronto’s bench is young and unproven, which can lend itself to variance, both positive and negative. Someone could pop, but so too is it possible that no one settles into a role and delivers the same performance night in and night out. There are seven players I could realistically see with consistent roles in Toronto’s rotation off the bench. That’s a lot! And I’m sure with Toronto trying to win games, even heralded players like Murray-Boyles or Dick could see their minutes slashed if they aren’t performing. No one will be promised anything off the bench, and that should lead to the best bench players finding more minutes to contribute.
But none of that guarantees bench stardom for anyone. If the Raptors were to start Walter and bench RJ Barrett, that would solve bench production. Barrett would immediately be one of, if the not the, best bench players in the league. But that’s all incredible unlikely. More likely is that the young guns duke it out and see their roles rise and fall according to their play. If anyone grabs the job of bench leader and runs with it, I would imagine it’s Dick or Murray-Boyles. Both have individual skills that can transform games. They can win minutes with those abilities.
Still, winning minutes does not guarantee a transformative bench performance like that of Gollum. For Toronto to truly see a dominant bench as it had in 2019-20, with the best bench net rating in the league, I imagine more is needed. More time, more talent, more seasoning. There is much already in house, and the bench will have its minutes of fire and brimstone, suffocating opponents and driving raucous 11-0 runs. But don’t expect consistent bench stardom from anyone for at least a season or two.
