The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have signed guard Ja’Kobe Walter, forward Jonathan Mogbo (MOE-bo) and guard Jamal Shead (Shed). Walter signed a rookie scale contract and is now under contract through the 2025-26 season, with two team option years to follow, while Mogbo and Shead both signed multi-year contracts. Per team policy, financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Walter, 6-foot-4, 198 pounds, was picked 19th overall by the Raptors in the 2024 NBA Draft following his lone season at Baylor where he averaged a team-high 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 32.3 minutes in 35 games. He shot .341 (75-220) from three-point range and scored in double figures in 26 games, including 20 or more points nine times. For his efforts, Walter was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection. A native of McKinney, Texas, Walter led all Big 12 freshman in scoring and recorded the second-most points (508) by a Baylor freshman in school history.
Mogbo, 6-foot-6, 217 pounds, was selected 31st overall by Toronto in the 2024 NBA Draft. He averaged 14.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 28.9 minutes in 34 games as a senior at the University of San Francisco last season. Mogbo was named the 2023-24 WCC Newcomer of the Year and earned All-WCC First Team honours.
A native of West Palm Beach, Florida, Mogbo began his collegiate career at Independence Community College (2020-21), before playing at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (2021-22) and Missouri State (2022-23).
Shead, 6-foot, 201 pounds, played four collegiate seasons at Houston (2020-24) where he averaged 9.7 points, 5.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 27.5 minutes in 138 career games (108 starts). As a senior (2023-24), Shead was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and became the first player in Big 12 history to earn Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honours in same season. A native of Manor, Texas, he finished his career as the second-winningest player in Cougars history with 120-18 record.
The Raptors acquired the draft rights to Shead, along with guard Davion Mitchell, forward Sasha Vezenkov and a 2025 second round pick (via Portland) from Sacramento on June 28 in exchange for forward Jalen McDaniels. Shead was picked 45th overall by the Kings in the 2024 NBA Draft.