Ja'Kobe Walter Scouting Report

A shooter now with defensive upside down the road

Rich Stayman

Jun 24, 2024

Name: Ja’Kobe Walter

Birth date: September 4, 2004

Height/Weight: 6’4/198

Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’10/8’6 ½

Hand size: 9 ¾

Position: Wing

Pre-Draft team: Baylor

Tools: Shooting

Background: 2024 Big 12 Rookie of the Year. 2023 McDonalds All-American.

Season stats: 14.5 PPG 4.4 RPG 1.4 APG 1.1 SPG 0.2 BPG 1.3 TOPG 2.1 FPG in 32 MPG on 38/34/79

Pros:

Dangerous shooter coming off of screens; moves well off-ball
Hard worker that overcomes weaknesses and has improved his shot since high school
Can hit floaters over strong contests with a high jump + release point
Plays hard and has a real mean streak that fuels hard defense
Projectable frame with long arms and big hands
Sees cutters and rollers well out of on-ball screens

Cons:

Can struggle to stay with slashers; can stay at first but is easy to separate from. Can be easy to beat on-ball defensively.
Kind of soft on drives (Cincinnati game); doesn’t bulldoze through guys at the rim consistently
Mostly below-the-rim finisher but doesn’t have advanced layup finishes
Looks down on drives (Texas game)
Inconsistent footwork on quick spot-ups
Subpar athlete in terms of vertical explosion; exclusively a two foot leaper that is a rim grazer dunker

Swing Skills:

Needs to be consistent in having good vision on 3s. Can miss open shooters off screens (Iowa State home game had a couple examples)

Summary:

Right now, Walter is purely a jump shooting scorer who doesn’t currently playmake or defend at a high level. His scoring upside stems from his ability to create damage to defenses coming off of screens, both on the catch and attacking off of screens off the dribble. I expect his footwork/base on jumpers to be refined in the NBA, and view that as a short-term issue instead of a long-term red flag. The fact that he was having as much success as he did with the difficulty of shots he took and not having refined & consistent footwork should make scouts optimistic that the shot could be a strong weapon in the NBA. As he fills out his frame and uses that strength to fuel aggression towards the rim, he ideally would become a more efficient finisher at the rim.

As a defender, his length (+6 wingspan) should give teams hope that he can grow into a 3&D mold, but he still is far away from reaching that upside. With limited athleticism relative to the average NBA wing, quick slashers can win against him, and he is easy to separate from high-level college slashers. With his length, there is a perceived upside around how he could better stay in front of 3 level scorers, but that is entirely theoretical right now. He also can get good contests

The danger in Walter’s archetype is that he is an inefficient 2 point scorer, mediocre 3 point shooter with a good free throw percentage. This archetype has struggled historically, with Isaiah Joe as the only success story. How he impacts the game when his jumper isn’t falling is his big question around his stock. Shooters that struggle with efficiency while barely eclipsing a positive assist:turnover ratio are difficult to project returning lottery value. Even if he becomes a rich man’s Isaiah Joe, Walter still may not start many games in the NBA, making his value lower than where he is expected to go on draft night.

Projected draft range: 13-20

Expected role: Shooter that can hit difficult shots off the dribble and be a threat off the ball as a movement shooter.

Unplayable if: Rim scoring ability and defense never improve.

Exceeds expectations if: Jump shot becomes elite, both spotting up and shooting off the dribble, and his length helps him grow into a positive defender.