When I got to the arena for Wednesday’s opener, I was delighted to step out of the tunnel to find Jamison Battle going through his warm-up rounds with fellow rookies Ja’Kobe Walter and Ulrich Chomche.
Since it was announced he’d made the team out of camp, I’d been jonesing to catch Battle’s pregame shooting routine like a preteen Oaklander stalking Steph Curry circa 2015. The Raptors’ undrafted rookie’s stroke is just that pretty. Stand inside 20-feet of that hitchy-but-smooth lefty flick, you’re firmly in the melted butter splash zone. I wanted to be there, popcorn in hand, as he poured in rhythm look upon rhythm look. It won’t be the last time I watch Battle rip cords hours before tip this year, I can promise you that.
It’s clear Battle’s jimmy is NBA quality. He didn’t lead the NCAA in free-throw percentage and can 43% of his triples at Ohio State last year by accident. He’s at 50% from deep in the pros after a 2/4 showing in his 16-minute NBA debut, and here’s to him getting steady P.T. going forward, at least until the team starts to get some bodies back. This team needs shooting, and man can he do it. Toronto should use the remaining 49 days on Battle’s hard-earned two-way deal to see just how much it can play up.
“His shooting is real,” said Darko Rajakovic after Wednesday’s beatdown loss. “He’s creating gravity towards him.”
As the role of the standstill shooter faces environmental stress from the league’s talent eruption and the bar for viable rotation play heightens, Battle will need to flex utility in more areas than bombing from deep to really hang. He’s got a ways to go — especially as a wing defender — but a couple boards, an assist and an even plus/minus in a 30-point loss are a nice step one.
As the Isaiah Joe and Sam Hauser types have shown in recent years, elite shooting can get you in the door. Use the opportunity to show you can affect winning, and you’re making eight figures.
Battle’s rookie classmate Jonathan Mogbo is staring down an inverse development journey. Mogbo does a lot of stuff in a lot of areas already. He’s long, he’s bouncy, with handles and passing chops in spades. He’s a rebound vacuum. He also attempted exactly two threes in two college seasons — both misses.
For him, the path to consistent minutes is about merely becoming passable at the thing Battle can do in his sleep.
A brick-laden road surely lies ahead for the 31st pick. Shooting improvement is usually a years-long odyssey, though Mogbo’s soft skills and size should give him enough leeway to build the jumper from scratch. Taking and making his first NBA triple, not a whiff of hesitation, was as good a start as you could ask for.
Toronto needs some wins on the margins. It’s been a while since a draft deep cut or UDFA hit for them in a way that tangibly bolstered their depth. With five diversely talented rookies up and down the roster, they’ve bumped their odds of getting some hits this season.
Jamal Shead already looks destined to be A Guy. Walter’s skill-set is badly needed and projectable. Battle and Mogbo aren’t quite Chomche-level home run swings, but they’ll need some time in the Raps development lab to test their bounds and claim a role in the long-term plans. NBA-level skills, however opposite, provide a baseline for them both.
To get a glimpse of Battle and Mogbo beginning to find their way on day one of a building year is the kind of win that won’t show up on the standings page. But those Ws are as if not more important than accruing a nice record this year anyway.
What I’m saying is, the Raptors’ are actually 1-0 this season. How’s that for some toxic positivity?
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Today on the show, Esfandiar Bareheni of The Athletic NBA Daily joins the show to preview a pair of weekend games and dig into more positives to be gleaned from a 30-point hammering to start the year. Enjoy the show, and have a great weekend!
