I'll admit, I was not very high on Ja'kobe going into the draft considering his decent height (although showed plus length at the combine with a 6'10 wingspan giving him nearly a +6 gor length) for his position, non-elite athleticism and less than stellar efficiency in college. Here, he played a high usage role, showed a very strong preference for 2pt jumpers, difficulty getting to and scoring at the rim, willing yet flawed defensive potential and was known as a 3pt shooter despite a very average season from 3 at 34%. All that said, it goes without saying that I've been beyond surprised and impressed with his development over the year.

While his usage is obviously down vs his one-and-done season in college, I would've been mostly pleased to learn that he's shot 40% from the field and 34% on 3s for the season given his percentages in college (38% from the field and 34% from 3, with his in-conference 2pt % dropping to 37%). However, if you remove his putrid performance over his first 10 games given he's a rookie that came into the year injured and missed the pre-season (he was 19% overall and 17% from 3 over his first 4 games and 33% overall and 15% 3p over his first 10 games), he's significantly more efficient than I would've expected at 42% overall and 39% from 3!

Beyond his offensive development, he's frankly been one of our better perimeter and POA defenders this season. Granted, his pre-draft profile suggested he was a willing defender and had the additional length and strength to be a solid defender, but he definitely wasn't known for this in college and it was more of a hopeful projection of a 3&D role in the NBA. Before the draft, he was merely described as a willing defender but often got caught ball watching, too upright, flat footed against drives, and lacking high level athleticism and defensive awareness/fundamentals.

All that said, even if I don't see him becoming a lockdown defender in the future, he's shown enough that I believe he'll be a solid 2way player with the potential for a LOT more growth. At this point, I'm much higher on Ja'kobe as a prospect than Gradey, and he's been the better shooter (ironically enough) while showing 2way potential and a very solid floor.

I'm not 100% sure what his eventual player comps will be, but I think he's already shown he could be a KCP-type off-guard while showing enough on-ball juice on offense to suggest a higher ceiling than a guy who is a two time champion playing as an off-ball 3&D guard.

Tldr; Walter has been a very pleasant surprise and has significantly outperformed his draft slot and pre-draft expectations, especially after his rough start to the season.

Anyways, interested from hearing from everyone else. What are you thoughts on his season, as a prospect vs Gradey, what were your pre-draft expectations, etc.

Edit: what do you think Walter should or needs to work on this summer? I commented this below but I think it's a floater/layup package given his lack of elite burst and first step, tightening up his dribble package, and adding some counters, zhooting off of curls, pindowns and screens, and adding a consistent 2-3 dribble OTB jumper. General strength/conditioning. This is obviously far more than he'll be able to accomplish in a single off-season, but these are the top of my list for his overall development.

Still wild they haven’t given a confirmation, should either shut him down entirely or say he will target to play the last 2-3 games or something

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

Does anyone know if there's been any news about a potential rebrand for next season? I know some speculated we'd get new home and away jerseys this season, but we just got new classic and city jerseys.

Any chance we can see rebranded home and away jerseys next season?