Top Performance Series: Jarace Walker
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The idea behind the Top Performance Series is to go back and watch the best, or one of the best, box score games of each prospect's season to see how they looked when they were performing at their highest individual level and what that might show us about their ceiling as a prospect.
For Houston’s Jarace Walker, that was a late January game vs Cincinnati where he scored a season-high 25 points on just 14 field goal attempts and chipped in seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots.
Offense
There might not be a more indicative example of the intention of this series than this offensive game from Walker. The 6-foot-8 forward put his offensive scoring package on full display and even carried his Cougars team during parts of the game on this end of the floor.
This included him showcasing his versatility during a stretch in the first half when his team was really struggling to score. Walker was able to attack off the bounce and show a soft touch on his floater, hit pick-and-pop and catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts, and finish off a pick-and-roll lob.
The most standout part of Walker’s offensive game was just how comfortable he is playing on the perimeter.
He does a great job of continuing to put pressure on a closing out or unsettled defense by attacking that closeout off the bounce, making a quick one more pass, or dribbling right into a dribble hand-off. The IMG Academy alum truly does possess the offensive foundation for what the modern NBA is looking for out of their forwards.
With that being the case, there are still some areas that must be discussed that either showed up in this game or may have been hidden if you only take this one game sample into account.
For someone this big, strong, athletic, and even skilled, there is much left to be desired in terms of finishing around the rim. This was the case in a few possessions in this game and all season long as his layups would qualify for average via Synergy.
While this was about evaluating his ceiling and he showcased that in the mid-range with his floater and mid-range pull-up jump shot in this game, that was not always the case this season.
The 3-point shot was also working for the Pennsylvania native but is something that still has questions around it overall. The actual 3-point percentage was okay, but the free-throw percentage, sometimes a better indicator of NBA perimeter shooting, was far below what you would want, and the form is almost too mechanical and not as fluid as you would like.
If the offensive package shown in this game from Walker is an indicator of what he can show on an NBA floor, then he should be a lock as a top-five pick. The 3-point shooting, contested mid-range makes, floater finishes, and passing were flat out impressive.
The question for scouts, evaluators, and NBA organizations is going to be why it wasn’t more consistent and how, or if, they can make that happen.
Defense
While Walker absolutely impressed offensively in this game, the defense did not stand out quite as much as expected, but that does not mean it was bad by any means.
Admittedly, some of that had to do with the fact that one of the biggest selling points for the forward is his versatility, and he simply did not get a ton of possessions to showcase this with who he was asked to defend.
One thing that did show up, and impress, is how he could be used in ball screen coverages. While he is not likely to be a drop coverage defender, he will be very proficient when being asked to play at the level of the screen, hedge, or blitz the ball handler. Walker could thrive in these coverages because of his movement ability of being more aggressive with the ball handler but also being able to recover to his man.
Continuing to show that versatility, he was also asked to play away from the screening action as the low man where he does a great job of communicating with his teammates.
There were a few instances where Walker was slow or flat out missed his rotations but in general he was more efficient at this than most college freshmen you will scout.
Some defensive playmaking that stood out was his ability to contest, and even block, jump shot attempts on the perimeter. On more than one occasion he was able to show some nice recovery and timing to get a really good contest on a perimeter jump shot.
Perhaps the most underwhelming aspect of this game defensively was his lack of overall impact on the defensive boards. This was something that Walker was elite at coming out of high school but did not show up nearly as much as hoped on the film. It’s possible this was a single game anomaly but the 4.5 defensive rebounds per game this season are lower than what they could be.
Ceiling
Modern offensive forward with defensive versatility.
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