Ja’Kobe Walter’s path to a bigger role in Toronto may be built on the defensive end.
Heading toward the 2026-27 Raptors season, Walter stands out as one of the more interesting young pieces on the roster. His rookie year already hinted at what he could become, with energy and hustle that made him easy to notice right away. Year two only strengthened that case, especially with the way his production and efficiency moved forward.
The shooting numbers tell part of the story. Walter pushed his three-point percentage from 35% as a rookie to 41% in his second season.
He’s also been making his presence felt defensively, where he’s grown into one of Toronto’s more annoying on-ball defenders. His steal totals climbed as well, from 0.8 per game in year one to 1.0 in year two.
That two-way growth puts him in the mix with the team’s younger wave, including the transformed Collin Murray-Boyles, the recently-extended Jamal Shead, and even Jamison Battle. If Toronto’s new generation makes the leap, those names could help shape the 2026-27 season just as much as the established stars.
Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard are expected to be the headliners, but Walter’s comments from a post-practice media scrum made clear he wants to carve out a bigger defensive identity of his own.
“ I want to take my defense to another level. It's a goal of mine to be top in the league in steals.
I want to be a top defender known as that. I feel like me personally, I don't get a lot of credit for it, you know, the way that other people get credit.
So, I think just not even from me, just for the whole team. We just trying to show people, how elite we are on defense.
We trying to be the top team. So, the goal is just be better defensively.
Continue to just make winning plays, do whatever I can, but at the end of the day, I just want to create chaos on the court,” said Ja’Kobe Walter on October 2.
That mindset fits a Raptors team that has long treated defense as its identity. Even before the Darko Rajaković/Bobby Webster era, when Nick Nurse and Masai Ujiri were running the show, Toronto’s edge came from how hard it played on that side of the ball. Defense has always been the backbone of the culture, and offense alone has never been enough to secure a player’s spot.
That was on display at Media Day with Jamison Battle, a specialist shooter who drew praise from Darko Rajaković for his growth as a defender. The message is clear: if you’re not willing to buy in on defense, you can get left behind.
Walter looks like he understands that. He has the confidence, the production is trending up, and the eye test already works in his favor. Add in the fact that he appears bulkier - and reportedly taller, too - and he enters the new season looking like one of Toronto’s most obvious breakout candidates.
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