5 Takeaways from the Toronto Raptors’ Summer League Win Over the Denver Nuggets

The Toronto Raptors looked like a different team coming out of halftime.

After a sluggish first half filled with missed shots and sloppy offence, the Raptors flipped the switch in the third quarter and held off a late rally from the Denver Nuggets with a 101–97 victory to move to 3–0 at Summer League. It was their best stretch of the tournament so far, led by breakout performances from Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead, with strong supporting efforts from Collin Murray-Boyles and Ulrich Chomche.

The defensive identity is clearly taking shape. The offence still needs work. But the Raptors continue to grind out wins with energy, hustle, and just enough shot-making when it counts.

Here are five takeaways from the win:

Ja’Kobe Walter delivered the breakout performance the Raptors were waiting for

This is what the Raptors wanted to see from Ja’Kobe Walter.

After two relatively quiet games to open Summer League, Walter finally looked like a second-year player ready to dominate this level. He was aggressive, confident, and disruptive, impacting both ends of the floor during Toronto’s best stretch of the tournament.

Walter sparked the Raptors’ third-quarter run with a pull-up three in transition, forced multiple turnovers with quick hands, and capped off a 19–0 surge with a deep heat-check three from well beyond the arc. The bench exploded. The energy shifted.

He finished with 26 points on 8-for-16 shooting with four made threes and a game-high seven steals. It was a complete performance from a player Toronto wants to see take a step forward. Walter hasn’t separated himself from the team’s other young wings just yet, but this was a reminder of the upside. He played like a real two-way threat, something the Raptors would love to bring off the bench during the regular season.

Jamal Shead sparked the turnaround the Raptors needed

After two quiet offensive performances to start Summer League, Jamal Shead finally looked like the floor general Toronto had been hoping to see.

The second-year point guard took control in the third quarter, scoring eight points early in the frame to help flip the game. He hit back-to-back floaters, nailed a pull-up three, and started getting into the paint with confidence. His pacing improved, the reads sharpened, and the Raptors’ offence started to flow.

His most impressive moment came midway through the fourth quarter. After a tough acrobatic finish through traffic, Shead immediately sprinted back and broke up an alley-oop on the other end. It was a full-court sequence of effort, control, and poise that showed exactly why the Raptors believe in him.

He finished with 16 points and 8 assists in the win and was the engine behind Toronto’s 34–18 third-quarter run. The Raptors have wanted Shead to look too good for Summer League, to stand out the way top sophomore guards sometimes do. This was the closest he’s come to hitting that level so far.

Ulrich Chomche continues to outplay Colin Castleton

The Raptors have a decision to make in the frontcourt, and Ulrich Chomche is making it easier with each game.

Chomche once again looked like the more impactful option compared to Colin Castleton, bringing mobility, defensive feel, and a growing confidence to the floor. He finished with 7 points and 4 rebounds, but the numbers don’t fully capture how far he’s come. He moved his feet well defensively, played with poise, and made a pair of high-level plays in the fourth quarter.

The highlight was a sequence where Chomche blocked a shot at the rim, ran the floor, took one dribble in transition, and found Collin Murray-Boyles for a dunk. A few possessions later, he made a sharp entry pass to Murray-Boyles who drew the foul. It was the kind of stretch that showed why Toronto remains intrigued by his long-term upside.

Castleton, meanwhile, struggled. He had trouble finishing and didn’t make the same kind of impact defensively. At this point, Chomche looks like the more promising investment, especially if the Raptors are weighing whether to keep Castleton or not.

Collin Murray-Boyles delivered his most complete Summer League showing

It took a couple of games, but Collin Murray-Boyles is starting to settle in.

After a quiet first half, the ninth overall pick came alive in the third and fourth quarters. He hit a big above-the-break three, his first make from deep in Summer League, to give Toronto the lead during its third-quarter run. It was a key shot for a player still working on his perimeter game.

Murray-Boyles also showed more comfort attacking off the dribble. He drew a foul off a fake handoff to Shead, scored in transition off a Chomche feed, and connected with Walter on a well-timed entry pass. His footwork defensively was once again impressive, and he had a strong perimeter block and a few physical contests at the rim.

He finished with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting with a made three, a handful of defensive stops, and a growing sense of how he can help this team. It wasn’t perfect, but the effort level, versatility, and flashes of playmaking are what Toronto bet on when they took him earlier this summer.

Raptors will need their defense to feed the offense

Three games into Summer League, the Raptors’ identity is clear: swarm defensively, force turnovers, and let the energy feed their offence. Against Denver, that formula showed both its upside and its limits.

Toronto turned the game around in the second half, sparked by aggressive defence and quick transition buckets. But the first half was another reminder of the team’s halfcourt struggles. The Raptors shot just 31.8% before halftime, with 24 of their 39 points coming off turnovers and second chances. If they weren’t winning the possession battle, they weren’t scoring.

That theme is likely to continue into the regular season. Based on what we’ve seen, the Raptors aren’t going to have a ton of advantage creators coming off the bench. There’s no clear shot creator or isolation scorer in the second unit. Instead, they’re going to have to defend, run, and outwork teams to stay competitive.