LAS VEGAS – Ja’Kobe Walter felt like it was time for a change.

Soon after his up and down rookie season ended, the Raptors guard wanted to shake things up and so he chopped off his trademark locks. The dreads that Walter had been sporting since his high school days in his hometown of McKinney, Texas are no more. His hair is as short as it’s been since he was in the seventh grade.

“I did it after our last game of the season,” he told TSN. “I really didn’t have a true reason for it… I just wanted to restart, so I cut it off just to grow it back [again].”

Running drills with his young teammates in the team’s hotel ballroom-turned-practice court at the Wynn resort in Las Vegas, Walter is almost unrecognizable and it’s not just because of his buzz cut. Since Toronto’s 2024-25 campaign came to an early end in April, the 20-year-old has put on 12 pounds of muscle. He says he doesn’t feel like a rookie anymore. He doesn’t look like one either.

The Raptors’ loaded Summer League roster includes seven players who suited up for the NBA club last season, as well as an intriguing group of rookies. Naturally, there will be plenty of eyes on Collin Murray-Boyles – the ninth-overall pick in last month’s draft – when they debut against the Chicago Bulls on Friday. But don’t sleep on Walter. The soon-to-be sophomore could sneak up on some teams and surprise a lot of people this season.

Selected 19th overall in last summer’s draft, a pick that came to the Raptors from Indiana in the Pascal Siakam trade, Walter had a bumpy start to his NBA career. He injured his shoulder during an informal workout just before training camp, which cost him the entire preseason and the first couple weeks of the regular........

© TSN