Let’s paint a picture. As a front office, you recently extended your backup point guard to a three-year deal. In his first game off of that extension, he finishes with a minus-17, turns it over three times, shooting 1-of-7 from the field and 0-of-3 from three, and puts up three points. If that was the context you were given, you’d assume that he had a horrible first game and a little doubt may trickle into your head about said extension. While that was Jamal Shead's stat line Saturday, any time he was on the court, he somehow felt like the most impactful player.
Now, his stat line was slightly misconstrued by me for dramatic effect to open this piece, as he also dished out eight assists, pulled in five rebounds, had two steals, and one block. If anything, Shead's poor scoring night and lack of efficiency only helped exemplify why extending him was such a brilliant move by the Raptors.
Despite turning the ball over a bit and not making shots, he showed that no matter what his production looks like, he finds ways to affect the game and help drive winning.
If Shead's extension needed more validation, it just got it
When the starters went to the bench ahead of the fourth quarter, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had to make a decision on who he could trust to run an offense with a bunch of fringe NBA players. He decided that person was Shead. In the fourth quarter, Shead played nearly eight minutes and was given the ball to go create for the other four players on offense and put them in situations to look good.
Obviously, playing with a bunch of players on two-ways or camp deals isn’t something that will continue into the regular season, but Shead’s willingness to play different roles night in and night out is one of his best traits. He’s always been a natural playmaker as a lead guard going back to his time with Houston, and it provides so much value at the backup guard because it adds to his versatility. Shead's ability to fight over screens, make second efforts defensively, and control the tempo of the game when the ball is in his hands allows him to always have a positive impact.
When you are an undersized guard like Shead, scoring is great, but also in the NBA, the opportunity to get clean looks or scoring opportunities is way lower because of his size. That’s what makes the way he can set the tone from the point of attack defensively, make hustle plays, be impactful on the glass, or be trusted to go create for others so valuable.
Shead is one of those players that, when you’re watching a game and go to look at the box score at halftime, you always feel like his stats are lying to you. His impact and how hard he plays can’t be quantified by a stat. If you had any doubt about his extension from the Raptors, or you just looked at the box score and thought he had a rough first preseason game, I’m telling you to rewatch Saturday’s game against Miami.
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