{"id":306877,"date":"2025-11-25T23:11:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/306877\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T23:11:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:11:04","slug":"how-raptors-jamal-shead-became-the-nbas-most-efficient-playmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/306877\/","title":{"rendered":"How Raptors\u2019 Jamal Shead became the NBA\u2019s most efficient playmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 One of the things worth admiring about Jamal Shead<\/a> is how genuinely ticked off the Raptors backup point guard looks whenever he gets scored on.<\/p>\n

A multiple time Defensive Player of the Year winner during his collegiate career at the University of Houston, Shead holds himself to the highest of standards on that end of the floor. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s not na\u00efve to the fact that the NBA is full of supremely talented scorers. Even the best pitchers in baseball give up a home run from time to time. It happens. He knows you\u2019re not going to shut everybody out, but that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s always willing to accept it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m supposed to be able to guard anybody and everybody. That\u2019s my job,\u201d Shead told TSN last week. \u201cIf they score on me and it\u2019s a tough bucket, it\u2019s like, damn, but I move on. But if it\u2019s something that I knew I could\u2019ve stopped, that eats me up a little bit inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, as a lead guard, there\u2019s something that irks him even more than giving up a bucket: committing a turnover.<\/p>\n

Take his lone turnover in Monday night\u2019s win over Cleveland as an example. Shead stole the ball away from Cavaliers big man Thomas Bryant<\/a>, but instead of finding Ja\u2019Kobe Walter for an easy dunk in transition, he sailed the outlet pass a foot or two over his fellow sophomore\u2019s head and out of bounds. <\/p>\n

Shead immediately shook his head, dapped up Walter, and pointed to himself, as if to say, \u201cMy bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good players in the league and eventually you\u2019re going to get scored on, you can\u2019t harp on that,\u201d Shead said. \u201cSometimes you can do a little bit more to prevent it, but a turnover is self-inflicted. You can always stop that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Shead, he doesn\u2019t experience that frustrating feeling very often. Eighteen games into the season, the sophomore is the NBA leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. He\u2019s dishing out nearly five dimes for every one of his giveaways. He also leads all reserves in assists and ranks third among all players in assists per 36 minutes, trailing only LaMelo Ball<\/a> and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the 23-year-old, it started with understanding his role on the team and how he could impact games within it. After leading the Raptors in games played as a rookie, Shead entered his second season as the undisputed understudy to Immanuel Quickley<\/a> at the point guard position and the lynchpin of a young but very fun bench unit.<\/p>\n

Defence has always been the foundation of his game; it\u2019s what kept him on the court last season as his offence was still developing. He worked closely with assistant coach Vin Bhavnani over the summer. Together, they poured over film and identified ways Shead could be more efficient in his role. <\/p>\n

Bhavnani leads with positivity, an approach that resonates with Shead. It\u2019s been a good match, and the results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

Notably, Shead is hitting 42 per cent of his three-point attempts, up from 32 per cent a year ago. While improved, his jumper is not a priority \u2013 he\u2019s taking fewer shots than he did as a rookie (4.4 field goal attempts per game, down from 6.7). When he checks into the game for Quickley, usually seven or eight minutes into the first quarter, he\u2019s looking to spread the love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just come in and look for everybody else,\u201d Shead said. \u201cJust try to make the right play. [Quickley] was shooting really well [in Sunday\u2019s game against Brooklyn], and when I got in with him, I was going to pass up any shot to get him another one. Just making sure that I come in with the right attitude and know who\u2019s hot and who\u2019s not in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharing the court with talented players is always going to make a point guard\u2019s job easier. Shead certainly has more weapons at his disposal this season, but the addition of a natural scorer like Brandon Ingram<\/a> or a floor-spacing big man like Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/a> also gives him more room to operate.<\/p>\n

Shead is quick and fearless. He\u2019s so good at attacking off the dribble and getting into the heart of the defence. From there, he can drive the lane and kick the ball out to an open shooter in the corner or make a play at the basket. He\u2019s always on the lookout for cutters \u2013 nearly 45 per cent of his assists have come at the rim.<\/p>\n

On Monday, three of Shead\u2019s seven assists set up Mamukelashvili, one for a corner three-pointer and the other two for easy layups. Late in the second quarter, Shead drove to the nail, sucked in a second defender \u2013 reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley<\/a>, in fact \u2013 and zipped an over-the-shoulder pass to an open Mamukelashvili. In the third, he split the defence and found the big man on a back cut to the rim.<\/p>\n

To make a play like that, you have to know your personnel, and Shead has developed great chemistry with his teammates, Mamukelashvili in particular. The two have logged 170 minutes together this season, more than any other bench duo for Toronto, and Shead has assisted on 30 per cent of Mamukelashvili\u2019s field goals, more than any other player.<\/p>\n

Shead has shown that he can make tough passes look easy, but there\u2019s nothing easy about limiting turnovers at a position that requires you to have the ball in your hands and make quick decisions at game speed. <\/p>\n

Part of it comes down to keeping it as simple as possible, and Shead does that well. To use another baseball analogy, he\u2019ll rarely swing for a home run with his passes when a single or double will do. There\u2019s an intricacy to playing point guard in the NBA and being an extension of the head coach on the floor, but he tries not to overcomplicate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying not to do too much, trying to stay within my game,\u201d he said. \u201cI play with a bunch of guys that can do a lot of different things and put the ball in the basket. So, just trying to keep the game simple, and when I do have to make a play, just trying to make the right one at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a maturity that comes through when talking to Shead, same as it comes through when watching him play. Being an older prospect and four-year collegiate player were among the factors that allowed him to fall to the Raptors at 45th overall in the 2024 draft \u2013 a pick they acquired from Sacramento in exchange for sparingly used forward Jalen McDaniels<\/a>. The other detractors \u2013 his height, generously listed at 6-foot, and his 30 per cent three-point shooting at Houston \u2013 also seem silly in hindsight.<\/p>\n

\u201cJamal Shead<\/a> is just a winner,\u201d head coach Darko Rajakovic said ahead of Monday\u2019s 110-99 win over Cleveland, Toronto\u2019s eighth straight victory and 12thin the past 13 games. \u201cHe\u2019s making winning plays on both ends of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s mature for his age,\u201d added Ingram, who remembers watching Shead play in college. \u201cHe was the best player on the floor most of the time when he played in Houston. He has a high IQ and he knows how to control the game\u2026 He\u2019s continuing to learn the game and applying it when we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the Raptors have needed it. Over the past three games, he\u2019s recorded 26 assists and just two turnovers in 64 minutes, while scoring 27 points on just 10 shots. The team outscored its opponents by 47 points with him on the floor in that span.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s making the most of his minutes and showing why he needs to be getting more of them. In yet another comparison to former Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet<\/a>, Shead\u2019s quick assentation forced the team to free up more playing time by trading its veteran backup (Davion Mitchell<\/a>) last February. Now, Rajakovic is using double point guard lineups with more regularity, something Dwane Casey and Nick Nurse used to do to keep VanVleet on the floor.<\/p>\n

Like VanVleet and Kyle Lowry<\/a> before them, Quickley and Shead are simply too good and too valuable to be splitting 48 minutes, leaving the latter with no more than 16 to 18 per night. While Walter started in place of the injured RJ Barrett<\/a> on Monday, Shead has closed each of the past two games alongside Quickley in the backcourt. <\/p>\n

The Raptors were plus-14 in nine minutes with the two point guards on the court together against Cleveland and are plus-37 in the 43 minutes they\u2019ve shared during this eight-game win streak. It\u2019s still a small sample, but whatever those lineups are giving up in size, they\u2019ve more than made up for with speed, floor spacing, and, most of all, playmaking.<\/p>\n

Barrett\u2019s knee injury is not believed to be as serious as initially feared; he\u2019s considered day-to-day. But even when he returns, it would behoove Rajakovic and the Raptors to find more opportunities for Shead. Quietly, Toronto\u2019s backup point guard is emerging as the most efficient playmaker in basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome games I might be a part of the answer, some games I might not be,\u201d Shead said. \u201cBut as long as we\u2019re winning, whatever coach has on his little sheet, I\u2019m with it. So, I\u2019ll be ready for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 One of the things worth admiring about Jamal Shead is how genuinely ticked off the Raptors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[712,121073,49,48,121072,133520,459,82,96661],"class_list":["post-306877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-apple-news","tag-brandon-ingram-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-887665","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-immanuel-quickley-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-1134175","tag-jamal-shead-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-1231795","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-toronto-raptors-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-28"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}