Toronto Raptors land college star late in NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors have added yet another player in this year’s draft, though they took a bit of a roundabout way to get there.

With the 45th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings drafted college star Jamal Shead out of Houston, before immediately sending him to Toronto.

A 6-foot-1 guard, Shead was named Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in his final season at UH. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 assists in his senior season.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony had high praise for the newest Raptors, as he called him the “best full-court defender in this class, bringing nonstop intensity and toughness heating up the ball 94-feet, smothering opponents with ball-pressure, fighting over screens and generating turnovers in bunches.”

Houston's Jamal Shead is the best full-court defender in this class, bringing nonstop intensity and toughness heating up the ball 94-feet, smothering opponents with ball-pressure, fighting over screens and generating turnovers in bunches.

More on ESPN: https://t.co/Qotbmd0WOy pic.twitter.com/ssKLFZLP8T

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 10, 2024

Shead’s Cougars came into the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, though he ended his season with an injury in the Sweet Sixteen against Duke.

“I hate that it ended like this,” Shead said at the time via Newsday. “I wish I could have got back out there and at least been in the fight. It would have been different if I could have at least limped around a little bit and fought a little bit. Just been in the fight with them until the end. It didn’t happen that way.”

The Raptors acquired the rights to the pick earlier in the day from the Sacramento Kings.  Toronto sent Jalen McDaniels to the Western Conference in exchange for the 45th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Portland’s 2025 second-round pick, Davion Mitchell, and Alexander “Sasha” Vezenkov.

On Wednesday night, the Raptors made their pick at 19th overall, selecting Ja’Kobe Walter from Baylor, while they took Jonathan Mogbo at 31st overall to kick off the second round on Thursday.

Shead is likely to join his new teammates in Toronto soon, with media appearances over the coming days.