As Walker and the rest of Buff nation wait for Thursday’s NBA draft to begin, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie released his top-100 draft prospects. Colorado’s star forward was at No. 49, which would get him safely into the second round.
Jabari Walker, while still young, has his work cut out for him to be a reliable NBA player, especially on the offensive end. But with his size and spot-up shooting ability that I’ve seen Walker display, to go along with what looks to be a well-rounded defensive game, he can buy himself some time to refine himself.
His talent is certainly plentiful, but work remains for him and almost any college player looking to get drafted.
Here’s what Vecenie wrote regarding how Walker would be received into the NBA (h/t The Athletic):
What role can Walker fill on offense? That’s ultimately the big question. He’s a good shooter, but he’s streaky enough to where
he’s not a good enough shooter to not do anything else on that end and make it. Essentially, you have to buy into him being able
to add some further functional ability as a driver or finisher. He’s much more interesting if you felt like he could be a versatile
roll man off pick-and-rolls or pick-and-pops. Or if he could make short-roll passing reads. Or if he could functionally attack
closeouts to where he can either drive to kick or drive to score. He can’t do any of that right now. He’s still a teenager, so there
is some real time for him to add these skills. And his defensive versatility mixed with his size and potential to shoot it only off
the catch could give him enough time to figure the rest of it out. There’s a chance Walker is a useful forward defender who can
knock down shots at some point. But it’s very theoretical until he becomes more comfortable on offense. He’s on the borderline
of being a guarantee guy or a two-way for me.
Walker finished his Colorado career as a 39.9% 3-point shooter with a respectable .783 mark from the stripe. The shooting ability is definitely there and could go a long way towards convincing an NBA GM to take a chance on him. I see Walker contributing as an intriguing 3-and-D type prospect while he grows into the NBA game.
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