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

[Loso04]

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.

At least wait till summer league to see how he plays

[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.

At least wait till summer league to see how he plays

so we should just lock the thread until summer league?

[Duffman100]

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.

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

[Godaddycurse]

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.

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

Walter is 3 yrs younger than mogbo/snead. maybe give him a few years to see if he becomes great at anything?

[Duffman100]

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.

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

Walter is 3 yrs younger than mogbo/snead. maybe give him a few years to see if he becomes great at anything?

He also currently looks like a decent bench guard option. Which at 19 in a **** draft is not bad.

Everyone says he's a really good shooter that had a bad stretch because of an injury.

We're surrounding Barnes with shooters. Makes sense.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I'm not expecting big upside, but he looks like he can replace Gary and maybe improve on that role a little bit with his ability to get to the line.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I'm not expecting big upside, but he looks like he can replace Gary and maybe improve on that role a little bit with his ability to get to the line.

He's at least 2 years away from being Gary.

[Tripod]

I'm not expecting big upside, but he looks like he can replace Gary and maybe improve on that role a little bit with his ability to get to the line.

He's at least 2 years away from being Gary.

Well really we just need Dick to replace Gary...then Walter to replace what Dick did...which could be quite doable.

[Reeko]

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.

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

One thing that his coach brought up in the interview is that he played so well to start the season that he immediately became opposing teams main focus on defense. While I didn’t love the pick, I think I see what our FO sees in him. He’s only 19 and you figure that his floor is probably a player like Moses Moody, a decent 3 and D player. So we’ll see. Given the structure of our current roster I think I would’ve liked someone who was more of a downhill threat, who that player would have been though at that point in the draft, I’m not sure. While he is a shooter another thing I like that was said about him is that he isn’t afraid of contact. Just gonna have to trust the FO on this one.

[LoveMyRaps]

Masai and co like Baylor guys all of a sudden eh....

Watch on YouTube

[XTC]

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

Walter is 3 yrs younger than mogbo/snead. maybe give him a few years to see if he becomes great at anything?

He also currently looks like a decent bench guard option. Which at 19 in a **** draft is not bad.

Everyone says he's a really good shooter that had a bad stretch because of an injury.

We're surrounding Barnes with shooters. Makes sense.

Honestly considering the quality of the draft, if he turns out to be something along the lines of MoPete this is a huge W (who was ironically chosen at #21 by us in probably the worst draft of all time )

I do think Walter has pretty good upside though to become a viable offensive threat.

[Chandan]

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.

Actually he's great at getting to the line. So he does do that.

But having a singular great skill isn't the end all and be all. If he's good at a few things that can be enough.

One thing that his coach brought up in the interview is that he played so well to start the season that he immediately became opposing teams main focus on defense. While I didn’t love the pick, I think I see what our FO sees in him. He’s only 19 and you figure that his floor is probably a player like Moses Moody, a decent 3 and D player. So we’ll see. Given the structure of our current roster I think I would’ve liked someone who was more of a downhill threat, who that player would have been though at that point in the draft, I’m not sure. While he is a shooter another thing I like that was said about him is that he isn’t afraid of contact. Just gonna have to trust the FO on this one.

on the plus side everyone is more of a downhill threat than GTJ.

[nikster]

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.

At least wait till summer league to see how he plays

so we should just lock the thread until summer league?

No, but it's kinda funny to say "A few days later and I still hate this pick" when we've seen nothing from these guys in that time

[LoveMyRaps]

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=DerekParker

[WuTang_CMB]

Just look at all the hot takes in the gradey thread. Small amount of ppl preached patience the rest were all over him calling him a bust. JKW will need time just like gradey but i like how we went bpa on a freshman of the year in the big 12 at pick #19.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I'm not expecting big upside, but he looks like he can replace Gary and maybe improve on that role a little bit with his ability to get to the line.

He's at least 2 years away from being Gary.

Right when the Raptors intend to compete again, and without having to deal with the headache of Rich Paul and Trent Sr. throwing mud at the team in the media.

[raincityraptors]

I have talked about all of our other rookie signings beside our top pick because I haven't trusted the comps and spent more time watching games.

Here is what I know:
1) I hate his defense at the college level. He isn't strong enough to keep guys in front of him. This is solvable with strength but I don't see what makes him a 2way player out the gate. He has tools but needs the strength to use it.
2) He needs to get into that strength and conditioning program they set up for Gradey right now.
3) I think he has a shot at becoming one of our best players at drawing fouls. If the defense shows up, this will make him a little more valuable than the typical 3+D player.
4) To have the shot he does with his wingspan and hand size at this age is something I don't see often. It's intriguing.
5) He was the best blue chip prospect available and a swing worth taking at his age given the tools and what he did in high school.

I think the Raptors went hard in a draft no one cared about because second rounders were available. I like every swing they took from a potential and character perspective with all 4 of their picks.

I am really happy with the group we drafted. I just don't understand why the blue chipper we drafted in the first round is the guy I'm least excited about.

[kingz3290]

Ja'Kobe Walter is Jodie Meeks. Same body type, movement profile, and shooting capabilities. If he can have the same career as a 6man/bench scoring type as Meeks then this pick makes sense. Meeks looked the same as Walter does on defense ( a scrappy, on-ball defender)

[will]

Ja'Kobe Walter is Jodie Meeks. Same body type, movement profile, and shooting capabilities. If he can have the same career as a 6man/bench scoring type as Meeks then this pick makes sense. Meeks looked the same as Walter does on defense ( a scrappy, on-ball defender)

OOF

I would think some people here are unaware of who Jodie Meeks is.

[Boardbreaker]

Ja'Kobe Walter is Jodie Meeks. Same body type, movement profile, and shooting capabilities. If he can have the same career as a 6man/bench scoring type as Meeks then this pick makes sense. Meeks looked the same as Walter does on defense ( a scrappy, on-ball defender)

There's a pretty significant difference in wingspan between the two.