Another intriguing young power forward is coming to Philadelphia as the Sixers have agreed to sign former Portland Trail Blazers forward Jabari Walker to a two-way deal. ESPN’s Shams Charania was first to report.
The Sixers’ summer continues to wait on Quentin Grimes and his unresolved restricted free agency. While Philadelphia continues to negotiate with their prospective starting two-guard, the team continues to make moves along the margins at their position of greatest need, power forward.
Walker may not be coming to the team to immediately fill a starting role, but he will provide a combination of youth and experience, as the 6’8″ 22-year-old played the last three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Over those three seasons, Walker has played in 166 games, starting in 24. Last season, over the course of 60 games, Walker averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds while playing 12.5 minutes per game. While he saw a reduced role as Toumani Camara continued his rise and the Blazers added Deni Avdija, who played roughly 23% of his time at power forward. Even still, Walker saw an uptick in efficiency.
Walker shot 51.5% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc, both career highs. While his entire shot profile was on rather low volume, it’s encouraging that Walker also made the most of his opportunity in the corners. Of his 72 threes that were taken, 45.8% of them were from the corner. Of those 33, Walker made 45.5%.
There’s still much Walker must learn and develop to become a consistent role player, but he certainly fits the base need, and will be able to help fill the cracks for the Sixers throughout the season.
