Jamison Battle may not have been a fixture in the Raptors’ regular-season rotation last year, but the door looks wider for him now.
Battle played in 61 games during the 2025-26 campaign, yet he logged just 8.5 minutes per night. Even so, his role grew when it mattered most. He got at least nine minutes in each of Toronto’s final five playoff games, and he delivered one of the postseason’s biggest moments when he buried all four of his 3-point attempts to help seal the Raptors’ Game 3 win.
That kind of shooting is exactly why The Athletic’s Es Baraheni and Sam Vecenie believe Battle is due for a more stable spot next season. On the July 18 episode of The Game Theory Podcast, Baraheni said Toronto spent much of last year shuffling him in and out while leaning on Gradey Dick for minutes.
“He was in and out of the rotation all of last year, and I think they were prioritizing giving Gradey Dick some minutes,” Baraheni said about Battle. “But he needs to be a part of the rotation this year, like full stop. That’s a priority.”
Vecenie echoed that view and said he expects Battle to open the season ahead of first-round pick Allen Graves, even if Graves could overtake him later on.
The appeal is obvious. Battle has kept doing one thing well no matter how his minutes have fluctuated: he shoots the ball.
In 2024-25, he hit 40.5% of his 3s on 4.4 attempts per game. Even after his role shrank and his volume dipped, he still knocked down 41.2%.
Only Alijah Martin finished with a better percentage among Raptors players, and Martin appeared in just 23 games.
Toronto’s roster changes only sharpen that case. With Kawhi Leonard hopefully headed back to Toronto, the Raptors are adding a high-level 3-point shooter, but the trade also sends Brandon Ingram - one of the team’s best perimeter shooters last season - and Gradey Dick to LA.
Sandro Mamukelashvili also departed in free agency. Graves brings promise as a shooter, but he still has to prove it at the NBA level.
If Battle gets real minutes, his spacing could matter a lot for a Raptors offense trying to function at a higher level. Leonard will also need to miss a bunch of games for load management so he can be ready for a deep playoff run and may even have to serve a suspension. For a team aiming to contend for one of the top spots in the Eastern Conference, better spacing is part of the equation, and Battle can help provide it.
Assuming Leonard is in the fold, the top eight of Toronto’s rotation looks largely settled: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Leonard, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl are the likely starters, with Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Collin Murray-Boyles leading the bench group. That leaves Battle in position to land ninth or tenth, depending on what happens with Kyle Anderson and Graves - and, naturally, injuries. That would still be a clear step forward from last season, when at least 10 players were consistently ahead of him in the regular-season pecking order.
In Other News...
Allen Graves Is Suddenly Pressuring For A Raptors Role
Allen Graves made enough noise in summer league to get Torontos attention, especially with the way he handled the 3-point line and held up defensively. For a player with just one college season and a background as a backup, that kind of showing matters, even if the Raptors are still more likely to lean on more seasoned options when they open the year.
Jamison Battle is expected to sit ahead of Graves in the rotation for now, but Toronto does not have much reason to ignore a young wing who can help on both ends. If Graves keeps shooting well and defending multiple spots, the Raptors can afford to work him in gradually, and any shortage of wing minutes would only make that path more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Suddenly Face An Offseason Pivot If Kawhi Reunion Stalls
The Raptors entered the offseason with a clear idea of how they wanted to reshape the roster, but the picture has gotten a lot murkier as the summer has gone on. Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick would still be in place if the bigger swing never materializes, and for now Kyle Anderson stands as the clubs most notable addition while Toronto still has one open roster spot to work with.
That leaves the front office weighing a smaller, more practical path to finish the roster if the bigger move keeps stalling. Reuniting with familiar free agents like Ochai Agbaji, Chris Boucher, or Kelly Olynyk would give the team options, whether it is adding back a wing, bringing in another big, or simply finding a dependable piece to round out the bench before camp. [Read more 🡒]
Scottie Barnes Still Needs One Thing To Finally Break Through
Scottie Barnes has already done plenty to justify the hype that followed him into the league. He has become one of the Raptors most versatile players, able to defend across positions and create offense in ways that make him look every bit like a cornerstone. Even among the top names from his draft class, Barnes has stacked up well as an all-around talent, but the next step in his rise is still the one that matters most in the postseason.
The gap is showing up in the playoff rsum. Cade Cunningham has already helped push his team deeper, and Evan Mobley has been part of a run to the Eastern Conference finals, while Barnes and Toronto are still trying to get beyond the first round. For the Raptors, that is why the conversation around Barnes keeps circling back to what kind of help he needs beside him, and why the possibility of adding a proven high-end scorer and defensive match would loom so large for a team trying to turn promise into a real breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]