This Toronto Raptor is the X-Factor Going into the Postseason

As the 2026 NBA regular season winds down, the Toronto Raptors have work to do to maintain their fifth seed ranking in the Eastern Conference standings. The highly contested battle between teams five through ten is separated by just 2.5 games, with under 10 games left for all teams. 

The Raptors have had stretches of greatness and despair constantly throughout this season. High moments make fans feel like the Raptors can contend in an open Eastern Conference, but low moments feel as though they shouldn’t be in the playoffs at all. There is no consistency offensively from game to game, and it’s a miracle if the whole eight or nine-man rotation is healthy. 

Everyone in the Raptors' rotation has had an impact at some point during the season. While the team is extremely bought in on the defensive end, not many have been key contributors on offense. Toronto’s leading scorer on the season is two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram, and his isolation scoring has been all that the team has to rely on late in games, often to no avail. Scottie Barnes has delivered well in really any role the team needs him to, but creating his own shot is not his strong suit, especially in late-game situations where the paint is packed. 

Immanuel Quickley, who is now set to miss his fourth-straight game with plantar fasciitis, has had a rough stretch in March. He has averaged just 13.7 points per game on 39.2% shooting and 33.3% from three. RJ Barrett has had the opposite experience, averaging 21.3 points on 55.4% shooting this month. 

One player who has delivered in the shadows throughout the past month is Ja’Kobe Walter. The second-year guard out of Baylor is averaging only 7.2 points per game on the season, but in March, he has shown to have the one key attribute that the Raptors severely lack: consistent three-point shooting. In the last eight games, Walter has averaged three makes from beyond the arc per game on 61.5% shooting. 

While eight games is a small sample size in an 82-game season, the 21-year-old guard is getting hot at the perfect time for Toronto. Not only is he shooting the ball well, but his interior defense has improved drastically from year one to two. He is continuing to prove that he deserves to be on the floor, and he may be the perfect player to complement Ingram, Barnes, and Barrett late in games. 

Barnes tends to agree based on his comments following the win against the Pelicans. 

“His shooting is just something that we need on our team, and he’s been on fire,” said Barnes. Every shot he takes, it looks like it’s going in. It’s just been super important for our team. Sometimes, we get in these rough stretches where we are not making shots, but we can count on him to be able to play defense and make shots. It’s hard to get off the floor when you’re making shots and playing defense for us. He’s proven that he should be on the floor.”

Now is the perfect time to experiment with Walter in the starting lineup. In his first game as the team’s point guard, Barnes supplied 23 points and 12 assists, so it’s something that head coach Darko Rajakovic may be able to use more in the postseason. Being that Quickley is without a timetable to return, Walter will continue to have the opportunity to shine in catch-and-shoot situations next to the three primary ball-handlers, and the Raptors will need him to continue to produce in order to maintain the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.