Draft Day Diary: Day 1 Reaction — Ja’Kobeeee!

How about that? With the 19th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select Ja’Kobe Walter.

A shooter.

We’re really adding shooters around Scottie Barnes. And importantly, the Raptors didn’t pick up a mystery box that will be a project for a few years, showing our commitment to finding the right pieces to add to this new core. I can’t believe it’s happening, but for the past two drafts, the Raptors front office has actually used their “lessons learned” on not how to build around Pascal Siakam.

Walter falling out of the lottery was possible, but I had him around the 12-18 range. He would’ve been a good fit in Miami or Philadelphia. Some draft sites that I’ve been following actually had him dropping to the Raptors @ 19th spot:

• The Athletic (Vecenie)
• CBS (Ward-Henninger)
• The Ringer (Kevin O’changed his mind at the last minute and bumped Walter down)

Before we do a quick spotlight on Walter, let’s revisit Draft Day - Day 1:

Day 1 Diary

• The Portland Trail Blazers and the Washington Wizards shook up the draft day with a big trade before things got started. The Blazers sent Deni Avdija to the Wizards, while the Wizards got Malcolm Brogdon, the 14th pick (Holy! The Wizards now have picks #2, #14, and #26). How does this affect the draft? The Blazers were the popular destination for mystery box Tidjane Salaun.
• Back-to-back lottery shockers: Ron Holland went to the Detroit Pistons at #5 and Salaun to Charlotte at #6. Thank god the mystery box is out of the way.
• Ok, so the Raptors’ original pick, the 8th pick that the Spurs now own, was flipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves for another draft haul. Life’s not fair as a Raptor.

• Memphis Grizzlies took Zach Edey 9th. Is that the pick for the Raptors?
• OKC picked up Topic 12th. Is that the pick for the Raptors?
• Three straight heartaches: Devin Carter, Bub Carrington, and Kel’el Ware went 13-15. Ware could not have been picked by a better team. At this point, my virtual GM necktie’s feeling a bit tight. I have Tristan Da Silva, Isaiah Collier, Ja’Kobe Walter, Kyshawn George, DaRon Holmes II on my shortlist.
• Philadelphia 76ers picked up Jared McCain, and the Lakers selected Dalton Knecht. Please, Orlando, don’t take Da Silva
• Magic took Da Silva 18th. Dream over. At this point, I don’t care if we pick any of these guys: Isaiah Collier, Ja’Kobe Walter, DaRon Holmes, Kyshawn George, Pacome Dadiet. Just please, no mystery boxes.
• With the 19th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select Ja’Kobeeeeee! He knows. He’s wearing purple. Did you see the Raptors’ tweet earlier? That’s some foreshadowing right there.

• Wizards picked up George, and the Knicks snagged Dadiet. They were looking to deal their 26th pick, but I’m pretty sure they blocked Masai’s number.
• Ryan Dunn, Collier, and Baylor Scheierman went 28/29/30, and that’s the end of the first round/Draft Day 1

Revisiting the 31st Pick

With team war rooms sleeping on their picks and potential strategies for the second round, the Raptors’ front office now holds the entire draft hostage until 4 p.m. EST the following day. Some possibilities here:

• Cash-out by trading down: it would be great if the Raptors can pick up a draft pick next year
• Package the pick via trade: there are different ways of doing this, such as attaching the pick with one of Jalen McDaniels, Chris Boucher, Bruce Brown, etc., to trade for one of the prospects picked earlier.
• Stay put and use the pick: Chances are, this will be the move because the Raptors will likely talk to everybody (except the Knicks) to get some deal frameworks ready, only to change their mind at the last minute.

If the Raptors keep the pick, my shortlist (in order of my preference) for the 31st pick:

• Tyler Smith
• Kyle Filipowski
• Bobi Klintman
• Juan Nunez
• Cam Christie
• Jonathan Mogbo
• Justin Edwards
• Nikola Djurisic

Two-Way Contract Targets

Copy/paste from the Draft Day Primer.

• Ulrich Chomche, Wing: Mystery box
• Pelle Larsson, Guard: Shooter
• Harrison Ingram, Wing: 3+D
• Keshad Johnson, Wing: 3+D
• KJ Simpson, Guard: Combo Guard
• Juan Nunez, Guard: Backup PG
• Jaylen Wells, Wing: 3+D
• PJ Hall, Big: Energy big
• Trentyn Flowers, Guard: Jumbo Guard
• Cam Spencer, Guard: Shooter

Ja’Kobe Walter - Newest Raptor

Stats: 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 34.1% 3P% on 6.3 attempts.

Age: 19 (NBA Age - 20)

School: Baylor (freshman)

Position: Shooting Guard

Height w/o shoes: 6’4.25”

Wingspan: 6’10”

Standing Reach: 8’6.5”

Mock Drafts

• ESPN: 12
• NBADraft.NET: 16
• Tankathon: 16
• The Ringer: 23
• The Athletic: 19
• Bleacher Report: 17
• SB Nation (O’Donnell): 14
• SB Nation (Writers): 16
• USA Today FTW: 20
• CBS (Boone): 13
• CBS (Parrish): 13
• CBS (Cobb): 18
• CBS (Finkelstein): 22
• CBS (Branham): 13
• CBS (Ward-Henninger):19
• CBS (Salerno): 20

Areas of Concern (AKA Why did Walter slide)

Ja’Kobe Walter started his Baylor career with a bang, dropping 28 points, six boards, and hitting 4 trifectas while getting to the line ten times. For the most part, early in the year, he hovered around the top 5 of most early mock drafts. However, what led to his downfall and sliding all the way to the Raptors at 19th was the part where he was a shooter who didn’t live up to expectations as his freshman season went on. Walter’s shooting and efficiency went up and down, shooting 34.1% on 6.3 attempts from behind the arc and, worse, 37.6% from the field.

Walter’s defense also got scrutinized. He’s got the physical tools, energy, and activity to be a good defender at the NCAA level. Unfortunately, much like his shooting, he’s alternated flashes of great defense and head-scratching plays where one would say, “How can XXXX player blow by you?”

Walter’s shot creation is subpar. Despite his quickness and decent first step, his handle is not tight enough to consistently create space or advantage for him. A shaky finish to his freshman year at Baylor didn’t help, as he struggled against Big 12 schools. He averaged five points against Iowa State and lost to the Clemson Tigers to end his collegiate career, missing crucial freebies down the stretch.

Raptors Fit

Despite what the stats at Baylor tell us, Walter is a shooter. He’s excellent as a spot-up catch-and-shoot or a movement shooter. Masai Ujiri needed to add young talent to the team, and he did so by adding someone who would fit well with Scottie Barnes’ game and coach Darko Rajakovic’s offense. Walter’s projected 3+D role makes him a future replacement-level player at the guard spot. If the team is planning to tank next season, the Raptors should move on from Gary Trent Jr. to open up minutes for Walter and Gradey Dick.

Walter adds threats of spacing, shooting, and off-ball movement to coach Rajakovic’s offense, which sometimes looks mechanical. I expect his shooting numbers to look better at the NBA level, as he won’t be asked to put the team on his back and yell “Kobeee” every time he gets the ball. Instead, a better shot diet and better teammates who can set him up and attract attention should make things better for someone who can shoot like him.

Walter’s got a big summer ahead of him—he’ll need to work on his handle and facilitation skills. If he can get better at that, his shot creation and decision-making will get a healthy bump, as he struggled on those two as he looked like he was a bit conscious of what he was doing with the ball more than trying to play chess with his defender at times. His defense will probably get better as he gets stronger and exposed to scouting and tape study, helping him make better defensive reads. With the amount of defensive effort he puts out there, he shouldn’t be getting blown by easily.

In the last draft, certain pockets of the Raptors fanbase wanted Jordan Hawkins, and Walter is a similar type of player. Much like Hawkins, Walter will need some developmental runway, but he should be good enough to start or play many minutes on a rebuilding team.

Final Thoughts

Much like Gradey Dick’s draft, I was not expecting Ja’Kobe Walter to fall to the Raptors. I thought Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers were good landing spots for him if he doesn’t go earlier. The prospects that I was initially high on were taken early, like Carrington, Ware, Da Silva, and Carter. Walter was the BPA on my list, but I wanted the Raptors to go with either DaRon Holmes II or Isaiah Collier. For a hot minute, I thought the Raptors would go with Kyshawn George, as he’s been linked to the Raptors, and he also worked out for them. However, I wouldn’t lose sleep, heck, I actually went to bed feeling good about this pick. At least the Raptors didn’t go the usual route and picked a mystery box. Now, if we can get Jonathan Mogbo with the 31st pick, the energizer bunny motor of the second unit would be insane! Agent of Chaos bench mob?