The Toronto Raptors have been in a tough place lately, now holding a 5-5 record going into Wednesday’s matchup with the Boston Celtics. Obviously, injuries have played a massive role in the Raptors' recent results and struggles. But what also has been a major contributor to their struggles has been players not stepping up in place of their sidelined stars. While the finger often gets pointed at RJ Barrett in these situations, Ja’Kobe Walter shouldn’t be escaping the heat.
Across the Raptors' last four games, Walter is shooting 28.2 percent from the field and 17.4 percent from three. On top of that, his defense hasn’t been at the level we know it can be, as his discipline has wavered a ton during this stretch, averaging three fouls per game. A player who has quietly stepped up during this stretch is Jamison Battle, who continues to prove that he is the Raptors' most reliable and impactful floor spacer.
Battle has averaged 11.3 points per game while shooting 48 percent from three on 6.3 attempts per game over the last four games.
With Walter needing to rediscover his spark and get back to being the incredibly exciting young player he was last season, and with the floor spacing upside of Battle, why not swap the two players' roles?
Jamison Battle's shooting makes him a better fit in the Raptors' starting lineup
Sure, with Battle starting instead of Walter, the defense isn't going to be as good, but the floor will be spaced out way more. Spacing has always been a concern with this Raptors group, but their star power was always enough to slightly overlook that issue. But when injuries pile up, and you’re forced to play a team game, winning on the margins matters even more, and Battle has consistently shown he can swing the three-point margin in Toronto’s favor.
In their loss Monday night to Memphis, Battle shot 5-of-11 from three and had nearly a 92 percent three-point rate in the game, meaning nearly 92 percent of his shots were threes.
Another thing Darko Rajakovic would do by making this change is let Walter handle the ball more and potentially maximize self-creation off the Raptors' bench.
Even with Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard out, Toronto’s starting unit still has two players who need a lot of touches: Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. For Walter, this can hinder his ability to get into a rhythm or have possessions where he shows off that high-level scoring bag that saw him be a top-10 high school recruit. Getting Walter to roll with the second unit would give them a creator and scorer they don't currently have, with Jamal Shead being a primary playmaker and everyone else being off-ball players or play finishers.
Surrounding RJ Barrett with reliable shooters is even more important when Leonard and Barnes are sidelined, as Toronto needs players he can drive and kick out to. Battle has shown incredible reliability as a catch-and-shoot player and corner sniper with a 52 percent shooting mark from the corner three this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The Raptors need to shake something up with their rotation, and going into a matchup with a team that prioritizes the three-ball the way the Celtics are, swapping Battle for Walter in the starting lineup makes too much sense.
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