Summer League Coach Jama Mahlalela Praises Jamison Battle’s Game

Jamison Battle is the latest addition to the Toronto Raptors as he was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract.

The former Ohio State Buckeye is currently on Toronto’s Summer League roster. During his collegiate career, Battle averaged 15.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from three-point range.

After going undrafted, it did not take long for the 6’7″ forward to find a landing spot. Known for his scoring, he was in double figures in the Raptors first two Summer League games.

On Friday, Battle put up nine points, two rebounds and two assists on 3-for-4 from distance. Due to Toronto getting blown out, he only got 13 minutes on the floor.

So far, Battle’s scoring has transferred to an NBA environment and head coach Jama Mahlalela talked about how exciting of a player he is, via Sports Illustrated’s Aaron Rose:

“Jamison has been really exciting as a player. I think his shooting ability, is sort of like everyone can see it, but his playmaking and next-action is also really good. And then defensively, he’s got really good length, good arms, good shoulders, so he’s done a really good job with his on-ball defense.”

While being able to space is a vital skill to have, Battle acknowledges that he has to be multifaceted:

“I have to be able to defend, guard, keep a guy in front of me, and also help the team on help defense and stuff like that. I think the biggest translator is shooting and I think that’s been shown as Summer League so far, but there’s still more things that I can add to my game to help teams win.”

It is great to see Battle be self aware and be willing to embrace different aspects of the game.

Once training camp comes around, he could be setting himself up for a chance to compete for a roster spot.

Darko Rajakovic says Toronto has a clean slate going into next season

Last season featured a ton of change for Toronto due to trading away Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby.

However, coming into the 2024-25 season, head coach Darko Rajakovic says the team has a clean slate after establishing their young core.