Ohio State forward Jamison Battle is signing with the Toronto Raptors for summer league, according to Darren Wolfson of KSTP.
Battle is 6-foot-7 and spent time at George Washington and Minnesota before becoming a fifth-year senior with the Buckeyes this past season. He averaged 15.3 points and 5.2 rebounds, starting all 35 games. He was projected as a potential second-round pick, but did not get drafted.
“Battle posted the fifth-best shooting percentage from behind the arc in Ohio State history at 43.3%, which ranked third in the Big Ten among shooters who attempted at least four triples per game in 2023-24,” wrote Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors. “He made 91 threes in total, sixth-most in school history and third-most by a player not named Jon Diebler in a single season at Ohio State.
“A well-rounded scorer on the whole, Battle collected 15.3 points per game while shooting 51.2% from 2-point range and 92.6% at the free-throw line, an Ohio State record.”
The Raptors had a fairly busy draft, landing Baylor wing Ja’Kobe Walker at No. 19, followed by San Francisco forward Jonathan Mogbo at No. 31, Houston guard Jamal Shead at No. 45 and center/forward Ulrich Chomche at No. 57.
Along with that, they acquired guard Davion Mitchell and forward Sasha Vezenkov (and the pick used for Shead) from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for power forward Jalen McDaniels.
Rebuilds tend to be tumultuous and rocky, but one of the most fulfilling aspects is getting invested and excited in any and all rookies that enter the building,” wrote Esfandiar Baraheni of Forbes. “You have to take your wins where you can get him, so to speak.”
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