Season In Review: Jabari Walker

“My first year was just learning and second year, for me, has been creating an identity. Just trying to be poised, still trying to bring the aggression, and still try to have fun at the same time. I think this year has just taught be how to connect all of that and to just bring the best out of me, be the best teammate I can be.” -- Jabari Walker

GP: 72 (23 starts) | MIN: 23.6 | PTS: 8.9 | FG%: 46.0 | 3P%: 29.5 | FT%: 75.4

EFG%: 50.0 | TS%: 54.6 | REB: 7.1 | AST: 1.0 | BLK: 0.3 | STL: 0.6 | TO: 0.9

According to Sportrac, Jabari Walker has a base salary of $2,019,699 for the 2024-25 season, the third year of a three-year contract signed after being selected with the 57th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. Walker will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Hopes were high for Jabari Walker, selected with the 57th pick of the 2022 Draft, after a legendary run at the Las Vegas Summer League prior to his rookie season. And while Walker ended up turning in a good first year, he averaged just over 11 minutes per game and didn’t see much significant playing time until the team decided to prioritize development in the last few months of the 2022-23 campaign.

Walker rededicated himself in his first professional offseason, vowing to get both his mind and body in the right place before the start of his second season. So while he might have entered his sophomore year with less buzz, he ended up being a much more productive player.

The 6-8 forward out of Colorado more than doubled his minutes per game, improved his field goal percentage by four points and more than doubled his rebounding average while showing he could play both as a traditional power forward and a small ball center. His hustle and desire to compete are often lauded by his teammates and coaches, and those traits, coupled with improved skill work, have made Walker a quality rotation player and a fan favorite.

"SOme guys are just skills, so they can have nights where they feel like they don't want to be there but still get away with it because they're shooting the ball and you don't really see it," said Walker. "But I'm a guy that rebounds, a guy that plays defense, hustle guy, I'm known for that, so I have to make sure my energy is right at all times. Just lock-in in that area."

Walker has shown himself to be a quality option for backing up both Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton, though with 23 starts this season, he’s also proved he can handle an increased role should the opportunity arise. He needs to improve his outside shot -- he shot 29 percent from three this season -- and wants to continue working on getting stronger, but he's already proven himself a valuable part of this young team's future. Not bad for the second year of a late second-round pick who wasn’t even sure he would make the roster.

Jabari Walker's best games all end up about the same: upper teens in scoring, a couple three-pointers, low teens in rebounding, a couple assists, a couple steals, a couple blocks and probably a few hustle plays which are usually posted over the course of a victory. So there are a couple of options.

There was the night he posted his current career-high in scoring with 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from three to go with nine rebounds an assist, a block and a steal in a 134-128 victory versus the Spurs on December 29. And much later, Walker posted a new career-best in rebounds with 22 while also posting 14 points, two assists and a block in 42 minutes in an 89-86 victory versus the Hornets on April 11.

But we’ll go for Walker’s most yeoman effort: a 17-point, 11-rebound, two-assist, two-block, one-steal effort in 43 minutes versus the Pistons on February 8. Sure, Portland ended up losing that game in overtime, but that performance feels like the best of what a player who is known for doing a little bit of everything has to offer.