The No. 19 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Walter was fantasy-relevant at times during his rookie season due to the Raptors' numerous injuries. He started 18 of his 52 appearances, averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals on 42/40/86 shooting splits when a member of the first five. While he showed promise during his limited time in an expanded role, Walter isn't expected to draw many starts in 2025-26. With everyone healthy, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl will be Toronto's starting lineup. That leaves Walter to compete with Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Jamal Shead and Jamison Battle for backup guard minutes. Walter should still have a consistent role, but the Raptors will be looking to compete, so they won't prioritize developmental playing time, which likely leaves the Baylor product with around 15 minutes a night. Walter doesn't need to be drafted, but he's worth keeping an eye on if injuries start to pile up in Toronto again. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a two-year, $7.1 million contract with the Raptors in July of 2024. Raptors exercised $3.81 million team option for 2026-27 in October of 2025. Contract includes $5.87 million team option for 2027-28.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary
As a high school junior in McKinney, TX, Walter won the state championship. For his senior campaign, he transferred to Link Academy in Branson, MO where he was selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All-American Boys Game and for Team USA in the Nike Hoops Summit. A five-star recruit, he committed to playing college ball for Baylor. During the 2023-24 season, Walter was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and voted Third-Team All-Big 12. Across his 35 appearances, he averaged 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.3 minutes. First and foremost, Walter is a three-point shooter. Of his 10.9 shot attempts per game, 6.3 of them came from distance. He drained 2.1 per game at 34.1 percent. While that's not an elite number, he took plenty of difficult movement triples. He's capable of pump faking and driving off his three-point threat, but he's not a top-shelf athlete and needs to work on his finishing around the basket. He'll often pump fake to push in and shoot a mid-ranger. Taking a step forward as a ballhandler and passer would do wonders for his potential. Defensively, Walter struggles from a lack of footspeed and may be better off guarding bigger players given his 6-foot-10 wingspan on a 6-foot-5 frame. Walter's gravity as a three-point shooter, especially one who can move off-ball, should be valuable to any NBA franchise. At the very least, he could operate as a specialist. If he can continue developing as a playmaker and defender, Walter could grow into a role similar to Devin Vassell. While Walter may not project as a primary offensive engine, he could develop into someone who can run secondary actions and make tough jumpers near the end of the shot clock.
Another absence coming
GToronto Raptors
Hip
January 21, 2026
Walter is out for Wednesday's game against the Kings with a right hip pointer.
ANALYSIS Wednesday will be Walter's sixth consecutive absence, and his next chance to play comes Friday in Portland. With RJ Barrett (ankle) also out, Jamal Shead remains a strong streaming option at point guard on the banged-up Raptors against Sacramento.
2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Starting/Off Bench
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Days Rest
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Vs Opp
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - By Result
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Advanced Stats
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2025
2024
Stat Review
How does Ja'Kobe Walter compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
True Shooting %
An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
Effective Field Goal %
A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
Free Throw Rate
Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
Offensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Defensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Total Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Assist %
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
Steal %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
Block %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
Turnover %
An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
Usage %
An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
Fantasy Points Per Game
NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
57.7%
Effective Field Goal %
55.2%
3-Point Attempt Rate
66.3%
Free Throw Rate
19.9%
Offensive Rebound %
4.4%
Defensive Rebound %
9.0%
Total Rebound %
6.7%
Assist %
6.4%
Steal %
2.1%
Block %
0.9%
Turnover %
7.6%
Usage %
14.0%
Fantasy Points Per Game
12.5
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.7
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Total
Per Game
Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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NBA Per Game Historical Fantasy Stats
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NBA Per 36 Historical Fantasy Stats
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Historical ADP
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Raptors Depth Chart
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Ja'Kobe Walter was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
Minutes
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Sorare
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2024 Fantasy Outlook
Walter was the 19th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and was chosen based on his excellent three-point shooting, though it remains to be seen if that will be enough to grant him a regular role in the rotation right away. He falls into a good situation, however, as the Raptors are embracing a rebuilding process and are relying on young players such as Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley. The path toward seeing regular minutes looks complicated early on, but Walter could see his minutes increase as long as he adjusts to the NBA. His three-point shooting should be valuable in category-based leagues, but given that he's expected to open the 2024-25 season as a rookie bench option on a rebuilding franchise, his fantasy upside will be close to minimal. Walter might have some upside in deeper and/or dynasty leagues, but he shouldn't be targeted in standard formats.
More Fantasy News
Won't play Tuesday
GToronto Raptors
Hip
January 19, 2026
Walter (hip) has been ruled out for Tuesday's game against the Warriors.
ANALYSIS Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Won't play Sunday
GToronto Raptors
Hip
January 17, 2026
Walter (hip) has been ruled out for Sunday's game versus the Lakers, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca reports.
ANALYSIS Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
ANALYSIS Grange currently projects Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji as the final two players in a potential 10-man rotation, but he said that Walter won't go down without a fight. "The recently turned 21-year-old was sharp in Friday's scrimmage, looking comfortable shooting the ball from behind the three-point line and even smoother with it off the dribble," Grange said. "Combined with his high defensive motor, Walter did all you can do when fighting for minutes in the NBA: he reminded everyone watching that he plans to be heard." During the 2024-25 regular season, Walter made 52 appearances with averages of 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 40.5 percent shooting from the field.