I’ll share my in-depth thoughts on most of the Raptors roster once the regular season ends, but honestly, has any player made more of the second half/post All-Star break than Ja'Kobe Walter?
In the pre-All-Star sample (45 games), Walter was averaging 6.2 points on 42.9 FG%, 35.0 3PT% (on 3.2 attempts), along with 2.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and close to a steal (0.9) per game in about 18 minutes of action.
In that time, you could argue there was an internal battle between Walter and the Raptors' other young swingman, Gradey Dick. Both were getting minutes in the rotation, but there was a strong belief that one would ultimately outclass the other to become Toronto’s true steady option at that position.
And like I alluded to earlier, Ja'Kobe Walter took the second half of this campaign to prove just that.
His numbers pre-ASG were already passable, but Walter took his game to another level, demonstrating stout toughness as a pesky perimeter defender, relentless hustle, and a serious three-point threat. His post-All-Star stats over 24 games include up to 9.5 points on an improved 45.9 FG% efficiency, with an impressive 46.8 3PT%, along with 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in about 24 minutes per game.
Ja'Kobe Walter’s progress is quickly becoming another feel-good Raptors development story
All of this is even more impressive when you see that he's taking more shots — both from the field (6.6 FGA) and from three (4.5 3PA) — and yet this hasn't hurt his efficiency at all. He's been steady, and I already called him the Raptors' "chosen one" among their youngsters in a previous piece for that very reason.
On the season as a whole, Ja'Kobe Walter has elevated his three-point percentage to an impressive 40.1 percent clip, effectively making him Toronto's best shooter across the entire 2025-26 roster. Fellow wings AJ Lawson and Jamison Battle are averaging higher percentages than him; however, it's hard to include them in these conversations since they are end-of-bench options rather than Walter, who is a consistent presence in the rotation.
Which brings me to the sad offset to this positive Walter development: it's disappointing to see that Gradey Dick, whom the Raptors relied on with the faith and trust that he would become a 40 percent or higher shooter for Toronto, has fallen off the wagon hard.
Raptors’ hopes are shifting as Walter shows the promise they envisioned for Dick
Dick was a top lottery pick for that exact reason, even if recent rhetoric from Coach Rajakovic this season suggested they were trying to turn him into a two-way threat — I think many could quickly see that this vision was far from becoming a reality.
Now that spot has been taken over by another hungry youngster.
Dick has played just over a total of 14 minutes in the last five Raptors contests, including a DNP in that span. That lack of playing time should be more telling than anything — the coaching staff’s belief in him as an important part of the roster have come and gone.
So has his three-point shot, which sits at a measly 29.7 percent on a career-low 2.5 attempts per game. The hope of Dick transforming into a sniper for Toronto has faded, and given these unfortunate developments, he’s eerily close to being completely out of the Raptors’ plans later this offseason.
It would've been nice if the Raptors could have gotten a one-two punch from these two young guns, with Walter offering a mix of shooting potential, defense, and some playmaking, while Dick could be that solid, reliable three-point shooter. But things don't always play out how we expect.