There's a reason why Walker was immediately signed to a long term deal and Williams is a 2 way player who most likely won't be around for long. The sad thing is that I think Williams is TRYING to pass the ball. That's why he has so many turnovers. He doesn't have a natural instinct for passing. He's clearly a score first point guard, but he's trying to show the team that he can run an offense and unfortunately he's not doing it very well. I give him points for trying. You can tell that it has taken him out of his game.
i know his dad has beat down the "role player" mantra into him and he's definitely embraced it, but I want to increase his usage to see if his production scales. SL is the right setting for this kinda experiment.
Spotrac now has his contract details: obviously, Blazers used an exception to sign him to 3 years. Partial guarantee next season for 400K which at this point seems pointless....Blazers will guarantee his deal. Portland got team-friendly guarantee dates of July 20
Unless if coach demands his PG gets the ball to him, we aren't likely to see it. Multiple times i've seen him open, and the PG , or ball handler ignored him.
I will say this. If Jabari shows a knack for draining the open shot, Dame sure as heck will get him the ball.
has to be an organizational mindset, but we have only 1 more game to possibly do it. remember when coaches decided to make BRoy the PG in his summer league stint to see if he could run the team?
LOL, Blazers fans being Blazers fans. The guy is looking good so far, short sample size though and not against NBA level. Can we not get too high or too low too soon? Some of you are getting too giddy over summer league play. Let's not all forget even Qyntel Woods has tore up summer league before....let that sink in... You guys love to big a guy up too soon in here only to enjoy tearing them back down if they don't meet your high expectations quickly (lots did that with Ant and now look at you guys)
Walker is a strong argument for why teams should not be casual about the value of 2nd round picks. I know Olshey had good success with the 2nd's he actually kept and used, but he seemed over-willing to just toss them away for minimal gain in the Dame era, these guys were 2nd round picks: Jae Crowder, Draymond Green, Quincy Acy, Khris Middleton, Will Barton, Mike Scott, Allen Crabbe, Mike Muscala, Raul Neto, James Ennis III K.J. McDaniels, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant, Nikola Jokić, Dwight Powell, Jordan Clarkson, Cedi Osman, Montrezl Harrell Willy Hernangómez, Richaun Holmes, Josh Richardson, Pat Connaughton, Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac, Malcolm Brogdon, Georges Niang Frank Jackson, Thomas Bryant, Isaiah Hartenstein, Dillon Brooks, Monte Morris, Jalen Brunson, Devonte' Graham, Gary Trent Jr. Jarred Vanderbilt, Bruce Brown, Hamidou Diallo, De'Anthony Melton, Shake Milton, Nic Claxton, Cody Martin, Daniel Gafford, Eric Paschall Isaiah Roby, Talen Horton-Tucker, Terance Mann, Jalen McDaniels, Théo Maledon, Xavier Tillman Sr., Jordan Nwora, Kenyon Martin Jr. Herbert Jones, Ayo Dosunmu, Isaiah Livers, Brandon Boston Jr., Aaron Wiggins the level of talent on that list runs from low-rotation-->role-player-->solid-rotation-->provisional-starter-->solid-starter-->all-star-->MVP. Obviously, that's a small minority of the 300 second round picks in a decade. That list is only 19% of the names taken. A real high bust factor in the 2nd round; and a sizable sample of that 19% are role-players, at best. but still, a significant part of building a winner is luck...it's that simple. Golden State and Denver got a century's worth of luck with Draymond and Jokic. But you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.
Yeah, I was there for that. He pretty much went 1 on 5 every time down the court. He was unstoppable .....but zero team ball. I felt bad for him when the whole Dog Fighting thing occurred. (Not that I condone it) He was waived shortly after. This is completely different. And I don't think anyone is saying Walker is going to be a star. Just that they are excited that he can contribute to a position of need. Walker seems to have a high BBQ. Woods did not.
Top 4 PERs all time in summer league for Portland 1. Nolan Smith 2. Brandon Roy 3. Jabari Walker 4. Damian Lillard lets hope Walker is more 2/4 than 1. Tbf though, Nolan only played two games and wasn’t a rookie.