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

[mrdressup]

Ja'Kobe and Jakob will be forever linked because of what we did with our first round pick in 2024.

[mrdressup]

Seeks out contact and finishes through it, his shooting looks fine, can hit contested shots, mid range is a work in progress, defense is probably the weak aspect at this point but has good size.

He decidedly does NOT finish through contact. He was horrible in finishing at the rim.

To be clear finishing at the rim and finishing through contact are different. Sure he has to improve but far too many players avoid contact completely while Walter will look to draw fouls AND score. Something a Trent, for example, never does.

Same with lockdown defense. If he tries that's already a plus. You can make a nice career in the NBA if you can draw 3 or 4 fouls a game. He moves. We have guys who can find a moving target.

[Duffman100]

I see a bit of Eddie Jones in his game.

[OakleyDokely]

Ja'Kobe Walter: 19.7 years old, 6'4.25 without shoes, 6'10 wingspan, 8'6.50 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 197.6 lbs
Stephon Castle: 19.6 years old, 6'5.50 without shoes, 6'9 wingspan, 8'6.0 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 210.0 lbs

J Walter: 32.3 MIN, 14.5 PPG, 4.4 REB, 1.4 AST, 1.1 STL, .376 FG, .341 3PT (6.3 ATT), .792 FT (5.2 ATT), .541 TS, 23.4 USG, 5.8 BPM
S Castle: 27.0 MIN, 11.1 PPG, 4.7 REB, 2.9 AST, 0.8 STL, .472 FG, .267 3PT (2.2 ATT), .755 FT (3.2 ATT), .551 TS, 22.0 USG, 6.5 BPM

[italraptors]

firstly, the kid could be good so i wont knock him, but he still an undersized wing. second, raps didnt even work him out cause they thought hed be gone so they got really lucky, third, masai and his coffee getter bobby needs to be fired, reasons are, look at yesterday with that bridges trade, they got a haul of solid picks for him and masai got peanuts for pascal, pascal is better player than bridges hands down, fourth, that jakob trade just continues to kill us, im telling you guys, zach edey will be a top 3 best player in this draft and the raps missed out big time on him. im sick to my stomach.

[torsport]

I really love this pick. I had Ja'Kobe as one of the players that could end up being the best of the draft.

He had a strong start to his career at Baylor. He fell off in the second half, so there may be a conditioning aspect he needs to work on, or not carrying as much of an offensive load, will allow him to be more efficient.

In his first 17 games he shot
42% from the field 38% from 3 and 84% from the line, while rebounding at 4 per game, 1.2 steals and 15.25 points per game over 30 mins per game.

So lots of folks have labelled him a Gary replacement, which I agree. I find the shooting really similar...BUT unlike Gary he brings secondary skills to the table: he is great on the offensive glass and rebounds at a high rate for a guard. He also gets to the free throw line a lot, unlike Gary. I think his defense is very similar to Gary's right now, but Ja'Kobe has the ability to grow and improve and has good ability to move and a 6'10 wingspan.

The last thing I really like about Ja'Kobe, which is a characteristic I like in players generally, is his intensity, he does have that dog in him.

So Gary Trent Jr. with a 6'10 wing span, defensive upside, the ability to get to the line, rebounds and plays with a Kyle type of intensity and is 19 years old is someone I'm really excited about having on the team. I do think he can become a star. He has the things I like about Gary with none of the things I don't like about him...except the passing, he looks like he's a black hole as well with 1.4 AST to 1 TO per game...but at pick 19 we have a lottery level talent!

[mtcan]

I see Gary Trent Jr in Jakobe...hopefully that is just his floor and his ceiling is much higher.

[Appostis]

Guard who cant shoot...nice....bye GTJ you have been replaced.

GTJ is coming back

Not quite sure why people think otherwise.. *shrug*

[ATLTimekeeper]

After sleeping on it I'm less enthusiastic. We didn't work him out, and the Raptors have made great decisions based on workouts (Norm when they were looking at Rashad Vaughan, Pascal when they were looking at Skal), and I didn't get the sense they even interviewed him at the combine.

[grant101]

Ja'Kobe Walter: 19.7 years old, 6'4.25 without shoes, 6'10 wingspan, 8'6.50 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 197.6 lbs
Stephon Castle: 19.6 years old, 6'5.50 without shoes, 6'9 wingspan, 8'6.0 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 210.0 lbs

J Walter: 32.3 MIN, 14.5 PPG, 4.4 REB, 1.4 AST, 1.1 STL, .376 FG, .341 3PT (6.3 ATT), .792 FT (5.2 ATT), .541 TS, 23.4 USG, 5.8 BPM
S Castle: 27.0 MIN, 11.1 PPG, 4.7 REB, 2.9 AST, 0.8 STL, .472 FG, .267 3PT (2.2 ATT), .755 FT (3.2 ATT), .551 TS, 22.0 USG, 6.5 BPM

That FG% is nasty! Definitely an eye-test draft pick. We're banking a lot on development here.

[mtcan]

Ja'Kobe Walter: 19.7 years old, 6'4.25 without shoes, 6'10 wingspan, 8'6.50 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 197.6 lbs
Stephon Castle: 19.6 years old, 6'5.50 without shoes, 6'9 wingspan, 8'6.0 standing reach, 8.75 hand length, 210.0 lbs

J Walter: 32.3 MIN, 14.5 PPG, 4.4 REB, 1.4 AST, 1.1 STL, .376 FG, .341 3PT (6.3 ATT), .792 FT (5.2 ATT), .541 TS, 23.4 USG, 5.8 BPM
S Castle: 27.0 MIN, 11.1 PPG, 4.7 REB, 2.9 AST, 0.8 STL, .472 FG, .267 3PT (2.2 ATT), .755 FT (3.2 ATT), .551 TS, 22.0 USG, 6.5 BPM

That FG% is nasty! Definitely an eye-test draft pick. We're banking a lot on development here.

I see that he has that scorers mentality and a bit of that dog...so if nothing else he won't be afraid to take the shots. Hopefully he will make more than he misses

[MiamiSPX]

I like what Bobby said in his presser when asked about the glut of guards: we don't have enough talent to be worrying about filling out the roster and need to take the best talent we can get and let them fight for it and prove themselves. I would think those that were afraid the FO is going to rush a rebuild were very happy to hear him say that.

It was refreshing to hear him be so candid and point out what most of us see (the lack of talent). Like you alluded to in your previous post, Bobby seems so much more polished now. I noticed it in his last PC and then again last night. Finally seems confident and comfortable. Still says "you know" a lot but that will improve over time.

[causal_fan]

Utah got Isaiah Collier @ 29 - imagine if the Raptors had kept that pick!

[OakleyDokely]

A tale of two seasons for him.

Games 1-18: 15.2 PPG, .421 FG, .369 3PT, .846 FT, .573 TS
Games 19-35: 13.8 PPG, .326 FG, .316 3PT, .752 FT, .507 TS


If his season ended after 18 games, he probably goes top 5 in this draft.

[MiamiSPX]

I'll defer to our FO on the pick. At #19, you simply nailed the pick if the kid even becomes a rotation player, so I think that is all we should hope for.

As for fit, 2 of the names being thrown around are not even guaranteed to return (GTJ and Brown). I like Ochai but objectively speaking he has one foot out of the NBA door. We need talent, and we need it badly. i couldn't care less if they draft 3-4 consecutive SGs, if they are all the BPA.

[Shakril]

BUST (didn't know he existed until we drafted him)

Yeah cause thats the way to evaluate player if you heard of them or not.

[hyper316]

After sleeping on it I'm less enthusiastic. We didn't work him out, and the Raptors have made great decisions based on workouts (Norm when they were looking at Rashad Vaughan, Pascal when they were looking at Skal), and I didn't get the sense they even interviewed him at the combine.

FO never thought he would fall that far, probably same for Walter's camp

[Shakril]

I don't like the fit in Toronto

I am sure he is a good kid and hard worker but where does he play? and does Dick start now?

How can you not like the fit? You were expecting a starter at 19???

If anything it might signal that we aren't going to spend a lot of money to bring GT Jr back. I doubt Dick's minutes affected by this at all.

It was a weak draft anyway. If he can contribute as a roleplayer its already a win. Sometimes it is better to temper expectations.

[Duffman100]

A tale of two seasons for him.

Games 1-18: 15.2 PPG, .421 FG, .369 3PT, .846 FT, .573 TS
Games 19-35: 13.8 PPG, .326 FG, .316 3PT, .752 FT, .507 TS


If his season ended after 18 games, he probably goes top 5 in this draft.

This is basically it right here.

The weird part is that FT drop as well. Makes me think something wasn't right. The knee issue as they mentioned

[mtcan]

After sleeping on it I'm less enthusiastic. We didn't work him out, and the Raptors have made great decisions based on workouts (Norm when they were looking at Rashad Vaughan, Pascal when they were looking at Skal), and I didn't get the sense they even interviewed him at the combine.

FO never thought he would fall that far, probably same for Walter's camp

He was mocked as high as 10th in many mock drafts.

The pick is fine. I hope he shows up at summer league and shows out like Keyonte George did last summer.