Rookie Shead growing into leadership role on Raptors

TORONTO - It was a hot debate in the Toronto Raptors' locker-room. Was that Jamal Shead's first dunk of the season?

The rookie guard cleared the Raptors bench as they rushed to congratulate his rim-rattler in Toronto's 119-104 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday. But once the game was over, the team's leaders were giving Shead a playfully hard time about his leaping ability.

Statistically, it was his second dunk of the season, but only Shead and veteran forward Garrett Temple could remember the other one. RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes were doubtful that the first jam against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 1 ever happened, and were chirping the six-foot-one rookie guard about playing above the rim more.

At one point, Barnes stopped giving Shead the gears long enough to hug him and tell him he loves him before continuing to tease him.

"We don't have egos in our locker room," said Shead on Tuesday, recalling the ribbing he got the night before with a grin. "I think when you're surrounded by good people, you have no choice but to be a good person. 

"All of our leaders, those are great people, on and off the court. We built a relationship based on a certain level of respect."

Shead was selected by the Sacramento Kings 45th overall in this past summer's NBA Draft but he was immediately traded with Davion Mitchell, Aleksandar Vezenkov, and a 2025 second-round pick to Toronto for Jalen McDaniels.

He had played all four seasons of his collegiate career for Houston and had built a reputation as a stellar one-on-one defender who specialized in steals. In his senior year, he was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, the first player to win both awards in the same season.

Expected to be a nice depth addition to the Raptors, Shead's been playing increased minutes as the team rests some of its bigger names and is hit by a wave of injuries. He's averaging 18 minutes per game on the season, but saw 20.7 minutes of court time per game in February and is at 24.1 minutes per game so far in March.

"It’s been speeding it up tremendously," said Shead, adding that he's learning to play with starters like Barnes, Barrett and centre Jakob Poeltl. "They make my life a lot easier. Getting the ball to Jak in that kind of half circle area, it's an automatic assist. Just gotta figure out how to get it to him.

"I'm just learning little things about all the guys that I'm looking forward to playing with next year, and then also trying to elevate the guys around me."

The 22-year-old has averaged 6.2 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 rebounds in his rookie season, but those numbers have climbed to 8.3 points, 4.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds since the beginning of February.

His rapid development has not gone unnoticed by his older teammates.

"It's been impressive to watch, he’s very mature for his age," said Poeltl. "You just see he has a different presence on the court now than you had early in the season.

"Obviously everybody kind of goes through that process, (...) you've got to get adjusted to a bunch of things, but I think he managed to do it very quickly and has made steps forward that I don't know that I've seen a lot of rookies make."

Shead will continue to see big minutes on Wednesday as Toronto welcomes the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Barnes is questionable after he aggravated a finger sprain in Monday's win.

Ochai Agbaji (sprained ankle) and Jamison Battle (broken nose) are also questionable. Gradey Dick (right knee bone bruise), Ja'Kobe Walter (right hip flexor), and Jonathan Mogbo (nasal fracture) will be out.

Toronto currently has the fifth-worst record in the NBA, giving the Raptors a 42.1 per cent chance of winning a top four pick in the lottery for the upcoming NBA Draft. There's a 10.5 per cent chance Toronto gets the first overall pick. 

Philadelphia is tied with the Brooklyn Nets for the sixth-worst record, half a game better than the Raptors. That means a win over the Sixers on Wednesday would move Philly into a better draft position than Toronto.

"We are approaching every game with the same mentality," said head coach Darko Rajakovic. "We're preparing to go out there and play the best basketball we can. 

"We are focusing on developing our full roster, one through 18. We're focusing on putting players in situations where they can learn a lot and that's very important for establishing the culture and for establishing a high level of habits."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2025.