Portland Trail Blazers select Jabari Walker with 57th pick in NBA Draft

BOULDER — Jabari Walker is headed to the NBA.

The Portland Trail Blazers selected the former CU forward with the 57th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Walker opted to enter the draft after a first-team All-Pac-12 campaign rather than returning to CU for his third season. He will play for Colorado legend Chauncey Billups, who is now the head coach of the Trail Blazers. Walker is the first underclassman to be drafted out of Colorado since Alec Burks in 2011.

“I’m excited for Jabari and his family; a great night and well deserved,” head coach Tad Boyle said in a press release. “It’s great to have another guy drafted, especially one who left early and forfeited his collegiate eligibility to get a chance and he’s got that. His hard work has paid off.”

The next step for Walker will be the Las Vegas Summer League, where he’ll play at least five games for the Blazers in a tournament that features rookies and other, typically younger, players trying to prove they deserve a shot in the NBA or the G-League. The Blazers will open play July 7 against Detroit at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Walker’s teammates should include No. 7 pick Shaedon Sharpe out of Kentucky.

While contracts for first-round picks are slotted, second-round picks are free to negotiate their own deals. Some receive fully-guaranteed deals but that is unlikely for Walker, who was the second-to-last pick in the draft. About two-thirds of second-round picks receive at least one guaranteed year of pay. The most likely path for Walker is a two-way contract, which will allow him to play a limited number of games with the Trail Blazers and spend the rest of his time in the G- League. Portland is one of two teams without a G-League affiliate, so Walker could be sent to any team in the league.

Walker scored 14.6 points per game on 46% shooting as a sophomore in the 2021-22 season. He averaged 9.4 rebounds per game and led the Pac-12 in double-doubles with 17, which was seven more than any other player. Walker is a career 40% 3-point shooter, but his efficiency dropped significantly this season.

At 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds, Walker projects as a rebounding fiend, especially on the offensive boards. His 32-inch vertical at the NBA Combine was underwhelming but a year in a professional strength program should help him refine his body and improve his athletic traits. Offensively, Walker should provide spacing—especially if he can speed up the release on his jump shot—and make some plays from the dunker spot. His defense isn’t anything special at the moment but he can block shots and has the tools to defend multiple positions at some point down the road.

Walker could have returned for a third season at Colorado but opted to keep his name in the draft pool in mid-May. If he had returned to school, he may have been able to develop his body and game and try to move up the draft board with another first-team All-Pac-12 season.

Walker is the 36th Buffalo to be selected in the NBA Draft. If he can find his way into the league this season, he will be one of four active Buffaloes along with Derrick White, Spencer Dinwiddie and Alec Burks. His head coach, former CU star Chauncey Billups, took over the Trail Blazers last summer.

“It’s great that he’ll be coached by a former Buff, but he’s got to earn his roster spot, and (Walker) knows that,” Boyle said. “It’s nice to have that Buff connection but he’s going to have to play his way into the NBA.”

The Trail Blazers added Jerami Grant in a trade with the Pistons on Wednesday in an attempt to shore up the power forward position, where Walker likely fits best. Justise Winslow, Drew Eubanks and Greg Brown III are also on the roster at power forward. Walker is likely to spend the majority of his rookie season in the G-League but he could grind out some garbage time minutes at various points throughout the season if he can beat out at least one of the other power forwards.

Walker seemed to be as likely to be drafted as he was to be left out prior to Thursday’s draft. DNVR studied 26 mock drafts and found that he was included in 14 of them.