The Raptors’ decision to bring in a superstar like Kawhi Leonard—hopefully—is a sign of trust in Scottie Barnes and his ability to be a consistent force on an Eastern Conference contender. It is also a sign of trust in the Raptors’ young bench group.
Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamal Shead, and Ja’Kobe Walter will be the main contributors off the bench, and none of them have more than two seasons of NBA experience. Still, after all three stepped up in the playoffs, the Raptors seem confident that they are ready to play big roles on a more competitive team. With Kawhi Leonard and Jakob Poeltl bound to miss some time, Murray-Boyles and Walter will be asked to take on starting roles at times as well.
For the latter, these new expectations couldn’t come at a better time. Walter stumbled through his first four playoff games, going 4-22 from deep and failing to score twice. He found his groove after that. He shot at least 42.9% from long range in each of the last three games, scored twenty points in two of those games, and racked up 10 steals while taking on tough defensive assignments.
Those are confidence-building games you want a young player to experience before asking him to be a key player on a team hoping to go on a deep playoff run. They also set the stage for a notable jump in production and a full season of the strong play that defined his post-All-Star-break run.
Ja’Kobe Walter could put together a true breakout season
Walter announced himself to the NBA world with his red-hot shooting in the second half of the season. He shot 47.6% on 4.7 3-point attempts per game after the All-Star break, which was one of the highest marks in the league. Still, his 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1 steal per game season averages didn’t exactly jump off the page.
Those numbers should go up next season if he can carry over his strong play from the last three playoff games and put together a consistently great regular season. Of course, with Leonard in the mix and RJ Barrett still on the roster, Walter won’t play 32 minutes per game every night, but he will play a key role and see big minutes whenever Leonard is out or when Darko Rajakovic wants more 3-point shooting than Barrett offers on the floor.
His individual success will drive team success as well. If the trade goes through as intended, the Raptors still don’t have many knock-down shooters. Walter’s ability to space the floor will be key to the Raptors’ offense. His defense is the cherry on top, and he is a part of the scariest defensive lineup the Raptors can put together once Leonard is in town.
All in all, Walter is steadily turning into everything the Raptors could have hoped to get out of the nineteenth pick.
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