As an executive, it’s got to feel good when you sign a player to a two-way deal and the consensus reaction is, “wow, he should be on a standard contract.”
Some were surprised there weren’t more offers for Jabari Walker, a 6-foot-9 forward who spent the first three years of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers after they took him in the second round of the 2022 draft. The thin-at-forward Sixers were able to snag him up without using a main roster spot in the process.
A reason for that may be that Walker
never got a ton of opportunity in a crowded young frontcourt in Portland. He averaged 23.5 minutes per game over the 2023-24 season but hasn’t averaged more than 12.5 minutes per game in either of his other two seasons. With plenty of health and depth related concerns in Philadelphia’s frontcourt, he should get a chance here.
The first area that sticks out where Walker can help is rebounding. While his per-game averages are just 3.5 boards per game last season and 4.5 a game for his career, he’s been able to grab rebounds at a high rate when he’s on the floor. He’s brought down 10 rebounds per 36 minutes over the course of his career, rounding that up to 10.1 per 36 last season. He rebounded 18.1% of opponents missed shots, which Cleaning the Glass has at above average in the 55th percentile across the league. The Sixers haven’t been an above average rebounding team since Ben Simmons played for them, which is going on four years now.
Walker’s ability to do so could pencil him into a lot of lineups. Defensively, he could be a natural fit with Adem Bona, a shot blocking and rim running big with some work to do on the glass. Bona only grabs 16.3% of opponent’s missed shots, which is in the 40th percentile for centers. On the other hand, Bona blocked 3.7% of opposing shots while Walker has never blocked more than 1.1%.
Offensively, things could get tricky as Walker is someone who takes the majority of his shots at the rim as well. He had an interesting shooting development last season that could make things easier if he’s able to replicate it. Obviously he’s never been a high-volume three-point shooter — he’s never averaged more than 1.9 attempts in a season.
Last year though, admittedly dropping back down to 1.2 attempts, Walker made 38.9% of his three-point shots. While these are pretty small sample sizes, there’s more than just last season to feel hopeful about his ability to hit shots. As a freshman in college he still never took more than 1.7 threes a game, but absurdly made 52.3% of them. His second and final year at Colorado, he upped his volume to 3.2 attempts per game and made them at a 34.6% clip.
Most of his points will probably still come from around the block, but the ability to step out and hit a jump shot every now and again is in there. That could go a long way in determining how often Walker finds himself in the regular rotation this season. Daryl Morey loves to keep an open roster spot headed into this season. It’s possible a reason this year would be in case they feel the need to convert Walker to a standard deal before he runs out of available two-way dates.
It’s no guarantee that Walker is penciled into rotation minutes. He’ll likely find himself behind Trendon Watford on the depth chart — perhaps even rookie Johni Broome depending on how crazy camp gets. He has some encouraging rate stats, but those are always difficult to parse in small sample sizes. Walker does possess at least one skill that the Sixers could definitely use. Now it’s time to see if they can make use of it.
