The following is part of Raptors Republic’s preview series for the upcoming 2026-27 season. You can find all the other pieces here.
It’s ironic that for a player with a skill set as consistent as Jamison Battle’s, his first two NBA seasons have been anything but that.
As part of a 30-win Toronto Raptors team in 2024-25, the undrafted rookie was afforded plenty of top-level reps and wound up playing 1,042 minutes through 59 games — grinding his way from an Exhibit 10 deal to a standard NBA contract — with modest averages of 7.1 points and 2.7 rebounds, and 40.5 per cent shooting on 4.4 three-point attempts per game.
But when the Raptors pivoted toward contention in 2025-26, Battle’s role with the franchise downshifted from project player to specialist sharpshooter. He ended up playing two more NBA games as a sophomore than he did as a rookie, but racked up half as many minutes (517) in that span while averaging just 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Still, despite that bit of turbulence, the jumper remained steady as ever. Battle attempted just 1.4 threes per game during last season but converted on a team-best 41.2 per cent clip (min. 42 games). He then continued that trend by leading the Raptors in three-point production throughout their first-round playoff series, shooting a scorching 63.6 per cent from beyond the arc on 1.8 triples per game.
In an era of the NBA when single-skill specialists have become a dying breed, with players constantly being asked to wear multiple hats, Battle has proven he belongs to a rare subset — think Jason Kapono or Steve Novak back in the day. Put him in, let him shoot and watch the ball go through the hoop more often than not. He truly has been among the NBA’s most efficient low-usage, low-volume marksmen since entering the league. Among players who made at least 40 regular-season appearances last year but averaged fewer than 15 minutes while taking at least one three per game, he ranked third in shooting percentage. Apply similar parameters to the playoffs (three appearances), and Battle ranked second.
All that to say, it’s undeniable that Battle can shoot the absolute leather off the ball. (Duh.)
He proved as much by terrorizing the Cleveland Cavaliers on multiple occasions. First, with a season-high 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting from deep in a regular-season matchup, and then Battle chipped in 14 points in a Game 3 playoff win against the Cavs, going 4-of-4 from deep in just the fourth quarter.
So, entering Year 3 (a contract season), where does that leave the 25-year-old?
The Raptors have re-tooled yet again and appear eager to sit among the Eastern Conference’s upper echelon this season. Do those plans include the Battle, who averaged nearly 20 minutes and attempted close to five triples a game, or the half-scaled version of that from last season?
It seems fair to assume the 2026-27 Raptors would benefit from an iteration of Battle who falls somewhere down the middle — threading the needle between a high-volume shot-chucker on a bad team and a single-skilled sharpshooter for an improving one.
For starters, the Raptors are still in desperate need of his long-range production after finishing bottom-five in average three-point makes for a fourth consecutive season. The impending addition of Kawhi Leonard and a presumed healthy campaign for Immanuel Quickley should help improve Toronto’s standing from distance, but so would a more-involved Battle.
And there is at least some indication that he could be in store for a bigger opportunity this season. No longer having to play behind the likes of Gradey Dick or Ochai Agbaji, Battle’s main competition for minutes as the Raptors’ ninth or 10th man off the bench most nights will be rookie Allen Graves or soon-to-be 33-year-old Kyle Anderson.
Battle provides better floor spacing than either Graves or Anderson, and has a proven history — which the others don’t — of winning his minutes alongside the team’s core. When in lineups that included any of the Raptors’ five starters from last season or their primary bench ball-handler in Jamal Shead, Battle maintained a positive net rating, albeit on a low volume of minutes. And maybe most importantly, Battle’s fit next to Barnes has always been snug, which only makes sense given how well their skill sets complement each other. Of Battle’s most frequent lineup combos, seven logged over 20 possessions, six of which included Barnes, while five maintained a positive point differential (per Cleaning The Glass).
There’s a real path for Battle to play right behind Leonard or even RJ Barrett on certain nights, depending on matchups.
As far as wing depth on the Raptors goes, the kind that can really space the floor and attract defence-bending closeouts, Battle and Ja’Kobe Walter are the extent of it, at least with any real track record in the NBA, with all due respect to Alijah Martin.
But what separates Walter from Battle, aside from being a first-round pick who’s three years younger, is that he’s proven to be more than a one-trick pony. Again, the NBA is asking players to do more and more with every passing season, and that includes bench players as well. Walter, for instance, may have scaled down his game to be more of a 3-and-D player in his sophomore season, but “3” and “D” are still two separate skills. Not to mention that Walter can put the ball on the deck more naturally.
However, Battle has shown some growth in that department. After nearly 75 per cent of his shot attempts came from beyond the arc as a rookie, that ended up ticking closer to 60-40 in Year 2 as he nearly doubled his layup frequency year-over-year. He also more than doubled his cutting frequency in that same span, from accounting for just six per cent of his shot attempts to nearly 14 per cent, while shooting 75 per cent on those looks in 2025-26.
Battle’s offensive openings remain heavily reliant on those around him, with over 90 per cent of his makes being assisted through both his NBA seasons, but an uptick in shot diversity and growing instincts as a cutting/rolling/popping threat were welcome additions to his game. And should shine even more this upcoming season with an increased role. Anticipate Battle as a weak-side release valve or kickout option as he often was last year, and it’s not hard to envision him putting defences into rotation with a growing arsenal of play-finishing moves.
This is Jamison Battle erasure https://t.co/o1KHSgUspF
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) August 30, 2026
Where Battle can really secure himself a routine rotation spot will be on the defensive end of the floor. By no means has he been a glaring liability as a defender — the Raptors were actually better defensively when he was on the court last season — but he hasn’t been a resounding positive either. The biggest leap Battle could take on that end is as an involved participant in Toronto’s event-generation style of defence.
The Raptors love to play high in gaps, get aggressive in passing/driving lanes, and create ample opportunities for transition play. Yet Battle ranked last on the team in deflections per game, and was bottom-five on the roster as far as average distance travelled defensively. Again, he wasn’t picked apart on that end like Gradey Dick was, for example, but he also wasn’t quite the active defender Walter was, who ranked fourth in average deflections on the team.
But again, there are indicators that Battle could be more impactful on that end with a bigger role and an increased motor. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, he’s got a solid build to impact guards and wings — of his 10 most frequent matchups through his first two seasons, nine have been against nominal twos or threes positionally. And last season, again, albeit on low volume, Battle did “hold” opponents to a team-best 54.7 per cent on the 53 shot attempts he defended throughout the regular season. At the very least, he knows how to make use of a 6-foot-9 wingspan to disrupt shots, and if he can work on being a bit more opportunistic defensively off the ball, it could help earn a couple extra minutes.
All in all, Battle has an inside track toward a meaningful role for the Raptors this season. If he can continue to show growth in other areas while maintaining his lights-out shooting from beyond the arc, the consistency his NBA opportunity has lacked to this point may finally arrive.