The kids are alright: Impressive Raptors rookies speeding up rebuild

Congratulations to Stephon Castle, the NBA Rookie of the Year.

But do the Toronto Raptors deserve the (non-existent) ‘rookies of the year’ title?

The San Antonio Spurs guard got the nod Tuesday night for individual honours, recognizing a season where the No. 4 overall pick out of UConn led all rookies in total scoring, steals and free throws while putting up 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game across 81 appearances, 47 of them starts.

He earned 92 out of 100 first-place votes, out-pacing Atlanta Hawks wing (and first-overall pick) Zaccharie Risacher (five first-place votes) and Memphis Grizzlies wing Jaylen Wells (three first-place votes).

Toronto-born centre Zach Edey finished fifth in voting after being drafted ninth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. The former Purdue University star didn’t get any first-place votes after averaging 9.2 points, 8.3 points and 1.3 blocks in 21.5 minutes per game, but he was second on one ballot and third on seven others, which is an excellent showing, given his draft position. He’ll earn first-team all-rookie honours when that is announced.

Not among the eight rookies who appeared on at least one ballot — voters ranked their top rookies 1-through-3 — were Toronto Raptors point guard Jamal Shead, shooting guard Ja’Kobe Walter, big man Jonathan Mogbo or sharpshooter Jamison Battle.

No surprise really.

And the story won’t likely be that much different for the first and second all-rookie teams, though Shead — who finished fourth among rookies in total assists and steals, eighth in games played and 14th in total points — could squeeze onto a few ballots.

Full disclosure: I was an awards voter this year and I have Shead as second-team all-rookie.

For me, a vote for Shead for an all-rookie spot was in some part a nod to the Raptors crew of youngsters overall.

So, while the Raptors didn’t finish the 2024-25 season with a rookie-of-the-year candidate, they came out of what is looking like a rapid rebuild with the mythical ‘rookies of the year’ title.

Toronto was second in the NBA in minutes, points, steals and made threes by first-year players.

The Washington Wizards crew of youngsters, along with the Grizzlies pairing of Wells and Edey, would be very much part of the discussion, but given what the Raptors had to work with on draft night, they would get my nod.

The Raptors went into the draft with only one first-round pick to use (they selected Walter 19th overall) but still found four productive players and Ulrich Chomche, a long-term project they used the 57th pick on. Shead was acquired in the trade with Sacramento for Davion Mitchell after the Kings selected him in the middle of the second round.

“It was fun. It was really fun. It’s a breath of fresh air,” was Raptors president Masai Ujiri’s assessment at the end of the season. “They all work hard, they’re competitors. I think they all went to the G League at some point, which they all really embraced that for their growth, and I think (Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic) really did a great job in paying attention to all their development. Really proud of them.”

On an individual level they each had moments where it was easy to project something more for them in the near future.

Shead, as mentioned, showed out with his table-setting and his defence, as one example. As a six-foot-one guard with a still-developing three-point shot, it’s probably unrealistic to project him as a future all-star or even a long-term starter at what might be the most competitive position in the NBA. But a solid third guard and steady rotation presence? He’s essentially there now, which is an exceptional return on the 45th pick in the draft.

Similarly, Walter is still a little bit difficult to project as an undersized shooting guard who will need to be a knockdown three-point shooter to reach his full potential, but he did connect on 45.6 per cent of his threes in March and April. More importantly, his toughness and appetite for defence jumped off the page all season. Teams can work with that.

Jonathan Mogbo, taken with the 31st pick, remains a bit of a mystery, mainly because he lacks a set position, missing the size to be a true big or the face-up skills to be an attacking wing, at least at this stage. His shooting is a work in progress, too. But his feel for the game is exceptional. He fits like a chameleon into almost any lineup. Just look at his line for the last four games of the season, where he averaged 12.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.5 steals and a block per game. Sure it was at the end of the year when a lot of teams had checked out, but that variety of production across the board is a pretty clear indicator that there is a player there, in some shape or form, and perhaps a very good one.

The most straightforward case is Battle, who joined the Raptors in Summer League as an undrafted free agent after five college seasons and never stopped hitting threes. He finished the season as the Raptors’ leader in three-point percentage at 40.5 per cent and was the most accurate among all rookies with at least 200 attempts from distance.

The production is one thing, and likely the most important, but whether it was that they came in as a group or because of the nature of the individuals in the group, the Raptors rookie presented as something more than the sum of their parts.

“But I’ll say again, you find guys that root for each other,” Ujiri said. “You sometimes wonder if it’s going to mix, the personalities and these guys, (but) they’ve done a really good job of coming together and mixing with some of the guys who fall in between — Gradey (Dick), Ochai (Agbaji), Scottie (Barnes) and (Immanuel Quickley), those guys are not so old themselves, so it’s been fun to watch them.”

It’s one reason why it’s tempting to look at next season with more optimism than might normally be warranted for a team coming off 30 wins.

When Ujiri invoked a cautious comparison to ‘the Bench Mob’ — the devastating second-unit that helped lift Toronto to a 59-win season in 2017-18 — it wasn’t necessarily on talent, which makes sense. That group included players that went on to all-star recognition (Fred VanVleet), all-NBA honours (Pascal Siakam) and a long run as a quality NBA starter (Jakob Poeltl), along with satellite members OG Anunoby, an all-NBA defender, and Norm Powell, who earned some all-star discussion this season after years as a perennial contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award.

This season’s group developed its own chemistry over the course of the year, with Shead as ringleader. It’s why the Raptors core of young players — remember, 21-year-old second-year wing Gradey Dick was the second-youngest player on the regular roster after Walter — is gathering in Shead’s hometown of Austin, Texas, for some informal workouts in early June.

You could see it in the dressing room all season, as Shead was almost always in the centre of whatever banter was taking place pre- and post-game, easily interacting with the rookies and veterans alike.

“He has such a character that leadership comes naturally to him. He’s doing outstanding job of communicating with veterans, communicating with rookies. It’s such a natural thing for him to get with people around him,” said Rajakovic. “A lot of times on the road, he was the one that vets are gonna say ‘Jamal organize the dinner,’ and he will set it up.

“Every time that we have birthdays, he’s the one that always likes to sing and then dance and do all of that, you know, all of those small things, like put him in a position that everybody likes him. And just the way he competes night in and night out, is allowing him to be more vocal.”

But character and good vibes only take you so far in the NBA. The reason the San Antonio Spurs are considered a Western Conference force in the making isn’t because Castle won rookie-of-the-year this past season, it’s because budding superstar Victor Wembanyama won it the season before.

The Raptors rookies’ task is to get better, Shead included.

“For him, the challenge is going to be in elite condition to continue improving. I told him several times, like his left hand, he needs to improve that a lot this summer. So he is aware of that,” said Rajakovic.

It’s true of all of the rookies: Walter needs to get stronger and keep improving his shooting; Mogbo needs to develop his shooting range and interior finishing ability, while Battle has to be a craftier and more physical defender to make up for his borderline (by NBA standards) athleticism and enable him to stay on the floor long enough to leverage his shooting range.

But the Raptors rookies seem to have taken that message to heart.

“It’s not about what I want to work on. I think for this team to be good, (the coaching staff is) going to give me the things that (they) would want to see out of me next year, especially to help us win,” said Shead, the heartbeat of the Raptors’ rookie class. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me. It’s not about what I will work on. It’s about what helps this team.”

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