Raptors Select High-Upside Guard Out of Baylor with No. 19 Pick

The Toronto Raptors have added to the core.

Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Gradey Dick will now be joined by Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter who Toronto selected with the No. 19 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Walter should give Toronto a little more offensive creativity. The 19-year-old freshman was considered one of the top prospects coming out of high school where he was an offensive explosive creater at Link Academy.

His freshman season didn't quite go as planned for the Bears.

The 6-foot-4.25 guard averaged 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 37.6% from the floor and 34.1% from three-point range. It wasn't quite as efficient as scouts had hoped for from Walter who was expected to be a lights-out shooter and offensive creator for the Bears.

Defensively, Walter has some work to do. He's not an explosive athlete and he's a little undersized as a wing, but he should put on strength at the next level as he develops into a tough on-ball defender.

More to come

Draft Notes

• It was a pair of Frenchmen who opened the draft with Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr going back-to-back at No. 1 and 2 to the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards, respectively.

• There'd been plenty of trade speculation surrounding Houston's No. 3 pick but the Rockets opted to stand pat and selected Kentucky's sharpshooter Reed Sheppard with the third pick.

• The first surprise of the draft came at No. 5 when the Detroit Pistons took Ron Holland II who'd been expected to slide later in the first round. Holland had been the No. 1 prospect coming out of high school but had an inconsistent season in the G League this past year.

• UConn's Donovan Clingan slid a little further than expected, falling to No. 7 where the Portland Trail Blazers nabbed their big man of the future.

• Toronto's original pick at No. 8 was flipped by San Antonio to the Minnesota Timberwolves who selected Kentuck guard Rob Dillingham. San Antonio acquired a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap from Minnesota for Dillingham.

• Zach Edey didn't have to wait long to hear his name called. The 7-foot-4 Canadian center came off the board at No. 9 when the Memphis Grizzlies selected the two-time collegiate player of the year award winner.

• The surprise faller of the night was Tennessee's Daulton Knecht who fell to No. 17 where the Los Angeles Lakers scooped him up with their first-round pick.

Draft Order:

No. 1: Atlanta Hawks: Zaccharie Risacher

No. 2: Washington Wizards: Alex Sarr

No. 3: Houston Rockets: Reed Sheppard

No. 4: San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Castle

No. 5: Detroit Pistons: Ron Holland II

No. 6: Charlotte Hornets: Tidjane Salaun

No. 7: Portland Trail Blazers: Donovan Clingan

No. 8: San Antonio Spurs: Rob Dillingham

No. 9: Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Edey

No. 10: Utah Jazz: Cody Williams

No. 11: Chicago Bulls: Matas Buzelis

No. 12: Oklahoma City Thunder: Nikola Topic

No. 13: Sacramento Kings: Devin Carter

No. 14: Washington Wizards: Bub Carrington

No. 15: Miami Heat: Kel'el Ware

No. 16: Philadelphia 76ers: Jared McCain

No. 17: Los Angeles Lakers: Dalton Knecht

No. 18: Orlando Magic: Tristan da Silva