With the 19th Pick, the Raptors select Ja'Kobe Walter!

[YogurtProducer]

He played 15 mins a game for the big club, and played nearly twice as many g league games as Malachi Flynn, Jalen Harris and Dalano Banton. By comparison to other raptors rookies, he played down there a lot. Not to mention he was better than all those guys.

Development resources is some sort of made up excuse. He said he didn’t want too many rookies, he drafted a bunch anyways. Not everything needs an explanation, it can just be puzzling. He literally traded for two guys in ochai and Kelly that will likely get minutes ahead of Ja’kobe and Mogbo. He couldn’t predict the future, but that’s currently the situation.

Nope...

Banton played 26 games (twice as many as Siakam)
Flynn played 11 games (important to note - rookie year Flynn was COVID so 905 only played 15 total anyways)
Harris played 9 games down there (same as Flynn though, COVID G-League year)

Siakam did not play down there until February 23rd, 2017. More than 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the year

Again, significant difference between 1st round rookie and grabbing a dude like Chomche at #57 (who if you did not draft, you would have signed him/someone else for that 2-way anyways like any other year)

Banton played those games over multiple seasons. None of them played more than pascal in a single season. Guys don’t get drafted and play 40 games in the g league, it just hasn’t worked that way thus far. Pascal a 1st rounder, played as many games as our other draft picks in individual seasons. He excelled beyond the g league so he never had to go back there. Development time isn’t the reason for picking guys late vs 1st round.

But if you wanna take another stab at it I’m all ears. He said one thing but did another. Can we just admit he changed his tune? He obviously valued ochai and Kelly highly. If that’s the reasoning… then fair enough. I’m not trying to crucify the guy, just pointing out the contradiction and the potential for the trade being a bust.

Banton played 14 in 2022-23 - more than Siakam ever played in a year

Siakam also played half his games in the G-League playoffs so it was not like he was there all year.

Come on dude lol you are just moving goalposts like crazy here

[RoteSchroder]

He played 15 mins a game for the big club, and played nearly twice as many g league games as Malachi Flynn, Jalen Harris and Dalano Banton. By comparison to other raptors rookies, he played down there a lot. Not to mention he was better than all those guys.

Development resources is some sort of made up excuse. He said he didn’t want too many rookies, he drafted a bunch anyways. Not everything needs an explanation, it can just be puzzling. He literally traded for two guys in ochai and Kelly that will likely get minutes ahead of Ja’kobe and Mogbo. He couldn’t predict the future, but that’s currently the situation.

Nope...

Banton played 26 games (twice as many as Siakam)
Flynn played 11 games (important to note - rookie year Flynn was COVID so 905 only played 15 total anyways)
Harris played 9 games down there (same as Flynn though, COVID G-League year)

Siakam did not play down there until February 23rd, 2017. More than 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the year

Again, significant difference between 1st round rookie and grabbing a dude like Chomche at #57 (who if you did not draft, you would have signed him/someone else for that 2-way anyways like any other year)

Banton played those games over multiple seasons. None of them played more than pascal in a single season. Guys don’t get drafted and play 40 games in the g league, it just hasn’t worked that way thus far. Pascal a 1st rounder, played as many games as our other draft picks in individual seasons. He excelled beyond the g league so he never had to go back there. Development time isn’t the reason for picking guys late vs 1st round.

But if you wanna take another stab at it I’m all ears. He said one thing but did another. Can we just admit he changed his tune? He obviously valued ochai and Kelly highly. If that’s the reasoning… then fair enough. I’m not trying to crucify the guy, just pointing out the contradiction and the potential for the trade being a bust.

People were taking the "didn't want to develop 3 rookies" thing too literally and/or misinterpreting his remarks and projecting their own interpretation into it.

I think this was the quote:

“It’s hard to bring in that many kids into an environment, grow them the right way,” Webster said of owning all those first-round picks. “I think the thought of three or four of them felt like, hey, if we can cash in one of them now for someone like Ochai, who’s still young but early in his career, then you solidified one of those (picks).”

https://www.si.com/nba/raptors/news/toronto-raptors-bobby-webster-shares-insights-into-trade-deadline-moves

Somehow, people interpret it as them not wanting more young assets.

[mihaic]

Ja'Kobe Walter sounds Austrian on paper. Like Jakob JaKobe Poeltl.

[nivisi9]

Watch on YouTube

Just finished watching this, great insight.

One thing that his coach touched on a couple of times was Walter's role in the context of being a freshman. For example when Will asked him about his defensive role on the team, coach Scott's first response was that he'll often have to hide freshman on D but that they just let Jakobe handle the hard stuff and just deal with it. He called him a pup lol.

Similarly on O, he took A LOT of high difficulty shots, which impacted his offensive efficiency (still led the team in scoring and ~35% on three is pretty good as a 19yr old).

Obviously coach is going to pump him up, but really liked what I heard and the context of how young he was gave me some hope, as I hadn't really considered how that compared to the guys drafted around him (eg. Knecht and Da Silva were Seniors at 17 & 19, Tyson a Junior, Holmes - who I really like - a Junior at 22 etc.)

Can't wait to see him at SL and camp.

K.george faced the same problems last yr, he took on a big role as a freshman PG for Baylor & his %s were bad, therefore he fell. I was a fan & wanted him if GD didn't fall. Same with Ja'kobe this yr, I didn't even bother to watch his film cuz I didn't think he'd be there at 19, he fell b/c of his %s.
George wasn't known as a defender tho, hopefully Ja'Kobe can step up

I was actually wondering about the K.George parallels and comparisons..

Is Walter the better prospect because of better athleticism + defence?

Hes also longer and perhaps arguably more "projectable" long term ?

[ATLTimekeeper]

I enjoyed his presser. The no ego thing that Drew was talking about is apparent in how he carried himself here. It reminds me of the Spurs old drafting tactic of seeking guys that "were over themselves."

[alpngso]

Watch on YouTube

Baylor (Walter) vs Houston (Shead)

[HumbleRen]

Just finished watching this, great insight.

One thing that his coach touched on a couple of times was Walter's role in the context of being a freshman. For example when Will asked him about his defensive role on the team, coach Scott's first response was that he'll often have to hide freshman on D but that they just let Jakobe handle the hard stuff and just deal with it. He called him a pup lol.

Similarly on O, he took A LOT of high difficulty shots, which impacted his offensive efficiency (still led the team in scoring and ~35% on three is pretty good as a 19yr old).

Obviously coach is going to pump him up, but really liked what I heard and the context of how young he was gave me some hope, as I hadn't really considered how that compared to the guys drafted around him (eg. Knecht and Da Silva were Seniors at 17 & 19, Tyson a Junior, Holmes - who I really like - a Junior at 22 etc.)

Can't wait to see him at SL and camp.

K.george faced the same problems last yr, he took on a big role as a freshman PG for Baylor & his %s were bad, therefore he fell. I was a fan & wanted him if GD didn't fall. Same with Ja'kobe this yr, I didn't even bother to watch his film cuz I didn't think he'd be there at 19, he fell b/c of his %s.
George wasn't known as a defender tho, hopefully Ja'Kobe can step up

I was actually wondering about the K.George parallels and comparisons..

Is Walter the better prospect because of better athleticism + defence?

Hes also longer and perhaps arguably more "projectable" long term ?

I think Keyonte was a better prospect in terms of being a lead guard someday.

Jakobe’s floor is probably higher though but lower ceiling.

[DreamTeam09]

Keyonte is a better PG than Jakobe, but plays more like a SG, I figure Jakobe to be a better SG than Keyonte as a SG/Combo. Keyonte is nice tho.

[CazOnReal]

I'd say they're very similar prospects. Difficult shot makers who have questions around their playmaking (In Keyonte's case he proved he can be a primary/secondary playmaker) and good defensive potential. Ja'Kobe isn't as explosive as George was but he's taller, longer and i'd say as a defender entering the league he's got a higher floor than George did.

Walter's biggest issues right now are his handle being a bit loose - looser than you'd like your 2 guard to be - and his finishing around the rim. Those are things that can improve in due time but they will determine how much playtime he'll get in comparison to Gradey Dick who might get the starting gig if Gary Trent Jr. is gone.

[Phezmo123]

I'd say they're very similar prospects. Difficult shot makers who have questions around their playmaking (In Keyonte's case he proved he can be a primary/secondary playmaker) and good defensive potential. Ja'Kobe isn't as explosive as George was but he's taller, longer and i'd say as a defender entering the league he's got a higher floor than George did.

Walter's biggest issues right now are his handle being a bit loose - looser than you'd like your 2 guard to be - and his finishing around the rim. Those are things that can improve in due time but they will determine how much playtime he'll get in comparison to Gradey Dick who might get the starting gig if Gary Trent Jr. is gone.

So would you say his floor is 3+D wing and ceiling is 3+D wing that can also create for himself?

Because the former is what OG Anunoby peaked as, even though we hoped he could become a shot creator the same way Kawhi did.

What could stop Ja'Kobe from reaching OG level of elite role player?

[CazOnReal]

I'd say they're very similar prospects. Difficult shot makers who have questions around their playmaking (In Keyonte's case he proved he can be a primary/secondary playmaker) and good defensive potential. Ja'Kobe isn't as explosive as George was but he's taller, longer and i'd say as a defender entering the league he's got a higher floor than George did.

Walter's biggest issues right now are his handle being a bit loose - looser than you'd like your 2 guard to be - and his finishing around the rim. Those are things that can improve in due time but they will determine how much playtime he'll get in comparison to Gradey Dick who might get the starting gig if Gary Trent Jr. is gone.

So would you say his floor is 3+D wing and ceiling is 3+D wing that can also create for himself?

Because the former is what OG Anunoby peaked as, even though we hoped he could become a shot creator the same way Kawhi did.

What could stop Ja'Kobe from reaching OG level of elite role player?

Hard to say right now because a lot of the issues with him are due to circumstance i.e. he's going to be a rookie and finishing at the rim is going to be more difficult in the NBA due to increased physicality/him needing to get the NBA body. Obviously things like him having a 6'10 wingspan don't factor in to this but let's take his oft-cited inefficiency.

Ja'Kobe's inefficiency and his reliance on difficult shotmaking was largely due to him being the #1 option and guarded as such in Baylor - and his dip in efficiency later in the season was allegedly due to a knee injury. Regardless of whether it's him or Dick, I think that he'll be assuming a lesser role on offense and thus won't be leaned on to take and make those difficult shots - though him having that mindset to take and make those shots, step up when you need him to, is a good one for a movement shooter to have!

The things that could hamper his ceiling are his playmaking failing to develop, his handle not improving and his finishing continuing to be sub-50% at the rim. I have enough confidence in his shooting mechanics to think he'll at least be able to make shots from outside and play some strong defense on 1s and 2s - maybe some smaller 3s in a pinch depending on the lineup.

I'd say a realistic outcome for him is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (The people comparing him to Devin Booker...love the optimism but that's not realistic nor is it fair to have that comparison hanging above him) which, for the 19th pick in a purportedly weak draft, that's a win in my books. The big questions are if he can tighten up that handle and how much that injury really hampered his performance because Ja'Kobe was looking like a straight up lottery pick midway through the season.

[TeamDisgruntled]

Nope...

Banton played 26 games (twice as many as Siakam)
Flynn played 11 games (important to note - rookie year Flynn was COVID so 905 only played 15 total anyways)
Harris played 9 games down there (same as Flynn though, COVID G-League year)

Siakam did not play down there until February 23rd, 2017. More than 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the year

Again, significant difference between 1st round rookie and grabbing a dude like Chomche at #57 (who if you did not draft, you would have signed him/someone else for that 2-way anyways like any other year)

Banton played those games over multiple seasons. None of them played more than pascal in a single season. Guys don’t get drafted and play 40 games in the g league, it just hasn’t worked that way thus far. Pascal a 1st rounder, played as many games as our other draft picks in individual seasons. He excelled beyond the g league so he never had to go back there. Development time isn’t the reason for picking guys late vs 1st round.

But if you wanna take another stab at it I’m all ears. He said one thing but did another. Can we just admit he changed his tune? He obviously valued ochai and Kelly highly. If that’s the reasoning… then fair enough. I’m not trying to crucify the guy, just pointing out the contradiction and the potential for the trade being a bust.

Banton played 14 in 2022-23 - more than Siakam ever played in a year

Siakam also played half his games in the G-League playoffs so it was not like he was there all year.

Come on dude lol you are just moving goalposts like crazy here

Moving goalposts? You said some bull about 2nd round picks more 905, 1st rounders less 905, more big club, development resources, some more blah blah none sense. I said pascal was a first rounder and played a lot of 905 games. I referenced memory when speaking about pascal, maybe I could have checked the official number of games played. With that said, is playing two more 905 games some sort of gotcha in your world? That proves your point? The genesis of my argument remains valid. Pascal was a first rounder who played a comparable amount of games to any other raptors rookie, 2nd round or otherwise.

This literally all started because you seem bothered by the notion that Masai had contradicted his trade deadline comments. I’ve said previously I don’t even mind the end result, just saying his train of thought hasn’t exactly been consistent. Are you guys related or something?

[deeps6x]

I'm always leary of the athletes that start off their interviews, pushing the God thing...

It was a quote response to someone saying he's our new Norm Powell.

Norm Powell aka NormGod.

When he was being interviewed, he thanked God for making this happen. I feel that he will be a good player for the Raptors, but I'm just not into injecting religion into sports, politics and general life.

Yeah I saw that as well. It happens all the time when people luck into things or win titles.

Well, not in Poker, but everywhere else.

[PoundTown]

It was a quote response to someone saying he's our new Norm Powell.

Norm Powell aka NormGod.

When he was being interviewed, he thanked God for making this happen. I feel that he will be a good player for the Raptors, but I'm just not into injecting religion into sports, politics and general life.

Yeah I saw that as well. It happens all the time when people luck into things or win titles.

Well, not in Poker, but everywhere else.

As an atheist/ agnostic I agree with you on a personal level but the south is very into religion. I don’t find it harmful at all in this case however. If that’s how people want to think and it doesn’t hurt me, it’s fine. Basically, you have your right to your beliefs as long as your beliefs don’t infringe on others beliefs or lack there of. If your religion means you can’t tolerate people of lgbtq or people from other religions or atheists, then you should check yourself. Live and let live.

[mihaic]

Keyonte is a better PG than Jakobe, but plays more like a SG, I figure Jakobe to be a better SG than Keyonte as a SG/Combo. Keyonte is nice tho.

Wow. Their college stats are virtually identical, totals and %. KG took one extra shot, got an extra assist, an extra turnover, and one less FT per game.

Perhaps they had the same role?

[DreamTeam09]

Keyonte is a better PG than Jakobe, but plays more like a SG, I figure Jakobe to be a better SG than Keyonte as a SG/Combo. Keyonte is nice tho.

Wow. Their college stats are virtually identical, totals and %. KG took one extra shot, got an extra assist, an extra turnover, and one less FT per game.

Perhaps they had the same role?

They did, coach said it. Coach said he didn't have to hide Walter on defense like other freshman

[mihaic]

Keyonte is a better PG than Jakobe, but plays more like a SG, I figure Jakobe to be a better SG than Keyonte as a SG/Combo. Keyonte is nice tho.

Wow. Their college stats are virtually identical, totals and %. KG took one extra shot, got an extra assist, an extra turnover, and one less FT per game.

Perhaps they had the same role?

They did, coach said it. Coach said he didn't have to hide Walter on defense like other freshman

I noticed that. That's really encouraging. One can't tell just from highlights, GTJ compilation of steals can make you think he's running for DPOY. A coach will generally be favoring a former player, but to say that is really encouraging. Sounds like defense and positioning in a defensive set really is a strength.

[WuTang_CMB]

https://youtu.be/9xijMH0JBUw?si=XgCaZ_6U3mQYjlCz

[steveholt]

Don't know anything about College hoops but watching his highlights, seems like he's a decent shooter, good athleticism, decent ball handling, and a good finisher. Not bad at all at 19. Seems like he's got some dawg in him too which is a big plus.

[TimeForChange]

A few days later and I still hate this pick.

I know the 19th pick in a terrible draft isn’t getting you anything better than a role player, but ja’kobe doesn’t do any one thing great.

Loved day two. Mogbo elite rebounder. Shead elite defender. Ja’Kobe meh.