The Toronto Raptors lost another guard ahead of training camp.
The team announced Friday that its first round pick, 19th overall selection Ja’Kobe Walter, will miss camp in Montreal after suffering a shoulder injury in an informal workout last week.
Walter sprained his right acromioclavicular joint — where the collar bone joins the scapula — and his status will be updated in a week. The team has media day in Toronto on Sept. 30 before heading to Montreal for workouts and an exhibition game.
Walter was named the Big 12 freshman of the year and was an All-Big 12 third-team selection while at Baylor, but it was expected the slender shooter would take some time to adapt to the NBA and to competition against bigger, stronger opponents.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew told Postmedia as much in a phone interview not long after Walter was drafted.
“Ja’Kobe, he’s a pup. And what I mean by that is, physically, he’s going to continue to grow mature, but all the natural talent ability is there,” Drew told Postmedia at the time. “He’s always going to be in the gym working on his craft,” Drew said. “He has the intangibles you can’t coach, though, and that is the desire to win, his competitiveness, being a great teammate. It’s all about winning. He could score four points or he could have 30, and if the team wins, he’s happy. If the team loses, he’s frustrated and wants to work harder to help them win,” Drew said.
At least at first, Walter won’t be able to help his team win. Toronto is also down swingman Bruce Brown for camp. Brown underwent knee surgery when rest and rehab failed to solve his knee issue.
Sophomore Gradey Dick was already the favourite to start at shooting guard, but with Brown and Walter now sidelined, Dick should be locked into the spot, barring a huge camp from fellow Kansas product Ochai Agbaji (which could shift RJ Barrett to shooting guard instead of small forward).