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Toronto Select Jamal Shead No. 45 Overall At 2024 NBA Draft

Originally posted on Raptors Nation | By Luca Rosano | Last updated Jun 27, 2024 6:11 PM ET

The Toronto Raptors have added another player at the 2024 NBA Draft.

With the 45th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings drafted Jamal Shead out of Houston.

They immediately sent him to Toronto as part of a trade the Raptors and Kings completed before the second round started:

With the 45th pick of the NBA Draft, the @SacramentoKings select Jamal Shead (@Thejshead)!

Second Round of the 2024 #NBADraft presented by State Farm is LIVE on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/4q6jSITOgD

— NBA (@NBA) June 27, 2024

Shead is a 6-foot-1 guard, who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in his final season at Houston. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 assists in his senior season.

Shead is the winningest player in his draft class. He won 120 out of 138 games while at Houston (86.7%). NBA teams compare him to guys like Jose Alvarado, per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

Givony praised Shead’s game saying he’s the “best full-court defender” in this year’s draft:

Houston’s Jamal Shead is the best full-court defender in this class, bringing nonstop intensity and toughness heating up the ball 94-feet, smothering opponents with ball-pressure, fighting over screens and generating turnovers in bunches.

More on ESPN: https://t.co/Qotbmd0WOy pic.twitter.com/ssKLFZLP8T

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 10, 2024

Shead played a big role for the Cougars as they entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, however his season ended after he suffered an injury in the Sweet Sixteen against Duke.

The Raptors are adding a tough, defensive guard in Shead.