Raptors Assistant Shares Toronto's Big Developmental Priority This Season

The Toronto Raptors are hoping to take a big step forward defensively with a trio of new on-ball defenders

Houston's Jamal Shead (1) runs back on defense during the first round game between University of Houston and Longwood University in the 2024 NCAA Tournament at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, March 22, 2024. / Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA

There's no sugarcoating it: The Toronto Raptors were horrible on defense last season.

It'd be easy to chalk that up to injuries, personal absences, and all kinds of issues surrounding what was a tumultuous season for the Raptors last year. To some extent, that was certainly the case. Toronto ranked 29th in defense last season in no small part because of all that non-stop drama.

And yet, even in the 19 games the Raptors played between trading Pascal Siakam in mid-January and Scottie Barnes' season-ending injury on March 1, Toronto still wasn't good enough. The Raptors posted a 119.6 defensive rating over that stretch, a number that still would have ranked second-worst in the NBA last year.

This season that has to be better.

"One of the things the Raptors are really trying to do this season and we'll look at it at Summer League is to be better on the ball," Raptors Summer League coach Jama Mahlalela told reporters in Las Vegas on Friday.

The front office has made that a priority this summer. Toronto drafted Ja'Kobe Walter in the first round who the organization views as a two-way guard with on-ball defensive skills, traded for Davion Mitchell, a former defensive player of the year in college, and then drafted Jamal Shead in the second round, the reigning defensive player of the year in college basketball from last season.

"[Shead] really cares about his on-ball defense," Mahlalela said. "He's great at sort of taking pick-and-rolls out of the play because he doesn't need any help, he just blows it up himself."

The Raptors see some of that in Walter too. While the 6-foot-4 guard doesn't have the defensive prowess of Shead or Mitchell, Toronto sees untapped potential in the former Baylor standout thanks to his 6-foot-10 wingspan.

"I think Ja’Kobe defensively brings something special to the table already," Mahlalela said. "He's got sort of an innate ability to guard the ball and his hands are really good. You see him getting deflections and sort of knocking through the ball and creating extra possessions. So that's one (skill) that feels NBA-ready."

None of this is to say the Raptors are going to have a top-tier defense next season. Walter and Shead will have to fight for playing time as they develop throughout the year and Mitchell has yet to make much of an impact in his brief three-year NBA career.

But what's clear is Toronto wants to get back to the defensive identity the organization used to have. After drafting Gradey Dick and trading for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and later Kelly Olynyk, the Raptors became too one-dimensional with glaring holes defensively.

This season Toronto hopes to change that by adding some young on-ball defenders with the kind of toughness the organization has been lacking.