Philadelphia 76ers forward Jabari Walker is coming off back-to-back games scoring 20-plus points. He's never even been known as a scorer. Trail Blazers fans never wanted Walker to leave Portland, and his play as of late is a prime example of why.
Walker became a fan favorite in Rip City. Whether it was rebounding, physicality, screen setting, or hustle, he did the dirty work and provided all the intangibles. That alone was worthy of a spot on a 15-man roster, given how scalable his impact is as a role player. But Walker was also showing legitimate signs of progress on the offensive end, giving him a high floor and an underrated ceiling.
Blazers gave up on Jabari Walker too soon
Last season, he even became a 3-and-D guy for the Blazers, connecting on 38.9% of his 3-point attempts. In his past two performances with the 76ers, Walker has shot 50% from deep on a high volume, averaging six attempts per game. Admittedly, that's a small sample size, and overall, his shooting has regressed in Philadelphia. Still, the most important takeaway is that someone who is just 23 years old has untapped potential and plenty of time to grow.
That's one downside to Portland's surprisingly deep roster -- they've had to pull the plug early on young players with upside before they've had enough time to develop.
Most recently, we saw that happen with Rayan Rupert, who has now signed a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. Rupert was always going to be a multi-year project, but Portland went with Sidy Cissoko instead, converting him to a standard contract.
Despite Rupert's early success with Memphis, that is the correct decision. But we're not so sure about Walker.
Last month, Philadelphia gave him a standard contract, which felt inevitable as he was always too talented to be on a two-way deal. He's already justified that decision with his play as of late.
While we always want to see a former Blazer succeed, it's bittersweet, as we can't help but wonder how he'd look on Portland's roster this season. Frontcourt depth remains an issue, and Walker was a great complementary piece behind Jerami Grant. Walker gave Portland more flexibility with their rotations, as he was essentially the opposite of Grant in rebounding and not having to score to be effective.
That's an area Portland could look to address in the draft this summer, but if they played their cards right, they wouldn't have to. Walker was always a serviceable role player who was only getting better.
It stung when he first left Rip City, and his success in Philadelphia, particularly lately, is reopening old wounds.