Jaden Bradley has been keeping his eye on the Toronto Raptors, and now they’re going to get to see him up close too.
Bradley was chosen fiftieth overall by the Raptors within the second round of the NBA draft on Wednesday night. The six-foot-three guard said he’s been following Toronto’s defensive evolution closely and hopes to fit right in.
“Definitely being attentive, obviously, to Jamal Shead, Scottie Barnes, the opposite guys as well,” said Bradley in a video conference call shortly after he was drafted. “They guard on the opposite end, I feel like that’s big. That wins games.”
Shead is an obvious comparable to Bradley.
Each were drafted within the second round, with Shead going forty fifth in 2024. Each are defensive specialists who earned the Big 12 Player of the 12 months award, with Shead being honoured as a member of the Houston Cougars in 2024 and Bradley getting it this yr with the Arizona Wildcats.
“I played against Shead at Houston, so simply to see his skilled development, he was a monster in college, but he’s really turning it on offensively,” said Bradley, who also played against Raptors forward Gradey Dick when he played NCAA basketball.
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“(Shead’s) coming along, so just can’t wait to choose his brain, learn from a few of the most effective.”
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The 22-year-old Bradley averaged 13.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 39 games with the Wildcats (36-3 overall), top-of-the-line teams in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball last season.
Bradley believes playing for the competitive U.S. collegiate team has prepared him for the NBA.
“Form of an identical role (in Toronto) but obviously there’s going to be some changes, so I’m just excited,” said Bradley.
Bradley was also named to the primary team All-Big 12, the conference’s all-defensive team, and was the Big 12 tournament’s MVP.
“He’s an ideal example of the four-year player who had a ton of success in college and rode out his entire eligibility and is a really achieved player coming into the NBA,” said Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman. “He’s going to be certainly one of these guys that has just about seen all of it, slightly little bit of a seasoned veteran as a rookie.
“We’ve had loads of success with those varieties of guys previously.”
Toronto took 19-year-old power forward Allen Graves with the nineteenth overall pick in Tuesday’s first round. Graves averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Santa Clara Broncos last season.
He also had 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in his only NCAA season, earning him the West Coast Conference Freshman of the 12 months award and Sixth Man of the 12 months award.
Tolzman said that Toronto may also explore signing some undrafted free agents.
“Every team is, and I do know the blokes are within the back working on it at once, just seeing who’s on the market,” said Tolzman in a video call from OVO Athletic Centre. “A lot of that may be very much summer league and camp driven, just like the two-way spots and people lower-tier roster spots that we now have to only type of prepare for the competitions with.
“How that impacts the larger team with just like the 15-man roster, it’s type of hard to say at this point.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press