Raptors' Ja'Kobe Walter: Headed to Toronto with No. 19 pick
Rotowire
Walter was selected by the Raptors with the No. 19 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Walter was last season's Big 12 Freshman of the Year while at Baylor and earned Third-Team All-Big 12 honors. First and foremost, Walter is a three-point shooter. Of his 10.9 shot attempts per game, 6.3 of them came from distance. He drained 2.1 threes per game at 34.1 percent. While that's not an elite number, he took plenty of difficult movement triples. He's capable of pump faking and driving off his three-point threat, but he's not a top-shelf athlete and needs to work on his finishing around the basket. He'll often pump fake to push in and shoot a mid-ranger. Taking a step forward as a ball handler and passer would do wonders for his potential. Defensively, Walter struggles from a lack of footspeed and may be better off guarding bigger players given his 6-foot-10 wingspan on a 6-foot-4 frame. Walter's gravity as a three-point shooter, especially one who can move off-ball, should be valuable to Toronto. If Toronto moves on from Gary Trent and/or Bruce Brown, Walter could compete for a starting spot with Gradey Dick.
