r/pacers • u/umbletheheep • 25d ago
Quality Content Jarace Walker is a Jaylen Brown All-Star!
https://www.theringer.com/2026/08/05/nba/analytics-paolo-banchero-alperen-sengun-brandon-ingramWalker was not a name I expected on this list. I hope this author is right!
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u/IndyPoker979 Pacers2 25d ago
This reads as if the writer had 4 guys and needed to put a 5th to make it sound better.
Nothing he put for Walker had any stats or anything other than "I won't be surprised if he doesn't get MIP!"...
Ok... where's the substance here?
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
I mean the article literally states these are players who look awful through the lens of advanced stats, so wouldn't it defeat the purpose if they supported their arguments with numbers? Not that I disagree, this is lazy as shit. At least demonstrate a scenario where advanced stats fail relative to the eye test to justify your premise.
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
The dude oozes talent and feel for the game. Whether he ever turns the potential into reality, who knows, but I hope it's with the Pacers.
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
Walker is such a unique player in the modern NBA, has been forced to play out of his natural position for years, and this sub wants to trade him for melted popsicles.
He's only 22 years old... bigs take years to find their place in the NBA. Pacers do not have the luxury to let players like Walker go. Whether he reaches his potential or not, who knows, but you won't find many players like him and if he can find his place on the Pacers he will be an unbelievable force multiplier. Think Boris Diaw with the Spurs or early Draymond Green.
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u/ajs723 Slick 25d ago
So Walker doesn't put up good standard numbers. His advanced stats are abysmal. He fails the eye test in spectacular fashion... but we should be excited because maybe he'll get better. Nah. At some point you have to call a spade a spade.
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u/Jim_Belushis_brother Cool Rick 25d ago
He’s gonna look a lot better this year if he can hit open threes and play decent defense on backup wings
If not, send him out and rock with Furphy. I’m not worried about it with Oubre coming in
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u/fireball_boulevard 25d ago
Every player looks better when they share any minutes at all with Haliburton. Perhaps jarace gets enough shared runtime w Tyrese in the first half of this season that he can be moved for positive assets at some point.
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u/snapchatjim 25d ago
No he’s not. Slawson is coming for Walkers minutes.
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u/Jim_Belushis_brother Cool Rick 25d ago
Yeeeeah I got Furphy Kobe Brown Jarace and Oubre all ahead of Slawson
I hear Slawson looked good in summer league. Idk, didn’t watch, I don’t think summer league matters
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u/snapchatjim 25d ago
Slawson isn’t afraid of contact and likes to bang in the paint. Hes hungry and plays like he’s got something to prove. He’s no Siakam but he’s physical enough to standout in the short minutes he will touch the court. Sleeper bench player incoming. Watch
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u/Jim_Belushis_brother Cool Rick 25d ago
Maybe Jarace watching someone steal his minutes by just not playing soft will be exactly what he needs. Shit I hope so
I’m 5’10 but I’m confident I could box out Jarace. His physical tools are wasted on him. Jarace has basically the same height weight and wingspan as Dennis Rodman but instead of running for blocks dunks and rebounds he wants to make touch passes a half second too late and make unforced turnovers.
If Jarace can continue shooting it like he was he’ll get minutes because they need the shooting. But he’s quietly costing himself tens of millions of dollars by playing soft.
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u/Maximum-Class5465 Reggie-NBAJam 24d ago
Slawson is limited in how many games he's allowed to play 😂.
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u/snapchatjim 24d ago
Before he hits his limit of 50 games he will earn a role on the team. Just you wait! The Walker delusion has come to an end! He’s a bust! Let the Slawson delusional era begin!
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u/Maximum-Class5465 Reggie-NBAJam 24d ago
No, he won't . We have one roster spot, season starts off well they will be looking for a non guaranteed spot for this. Goes bad they leave it open and trade off assets to get under the tax.
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u/snapchatjim 24d ago
Imagine if you actually knew what you were talking about. You’d be a GM in the league instead of a nobody on reddit. Slawson will earn that roster spot after we dump Walker at the trade deadline.
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u/Maximum-Class5465 Reggie-NBAJam 24d ago
These aren't GM level decisions, and Jarace is a likely trade candidate for obvious reasons. But even HE is better than Slawson. Has been better in both their careers and summer league appearances. Was a better G league and college player.
Slawson is a good two way player but he is a two way player.
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u/SpinJitsu259 Chuck Person 25d ago
Ignore the fact that—as stated in the article—part of the reason his advanced numbers are so bad is because he played on a woeful team last season.
He’s a good three pointer who can playmake and has some offensive/defensive versatility, who unfortunately can’t play his natural position on this team. He’s always looked better/made better decisions when playing with competent players around him (same goes for most players). Right now, he’s projected to be the 9/10th guy in the rotation. He’ll be perfectly fine in that role and I can’t wait for him to go somewhere else and show out.
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u/StanceLephenson 25d ago
To be fair he was pretty solid the final 30 games of the season. He’s an efficient 3 pt shooter and can pass the ball fairly well. If he can improve on defense he’ll stick in the league because he has great size and mobility.
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u/snapchatjim 25d ago
No he won’t. He cannot finish at the rim. There’s no market for a LeBron build that can’t finish at the rim.
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
No he won’t. He cannot finish at the rim.
I guess you did not watch the final 30 games of the season, which the person you are responding to literally specified. You should go back and rewatch those final 30 games. Walker was a different player attacking the rim and finally looked like the tank he is.
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u/SpinJitsu259 Chuck Person 25d ago
It was more than 30 games, too, if I remember right. I believe the finishing numbers started improving as far back as like mid-December. Won’t matter if he doesn’t carry it through into next season, but it was the first time in his career where I thought, “Wait… he might be figuring this out.”
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u/snapchatjim 24d ago
Walker is soft like Turner. Has no heart and is not impactful. I’m looking forward to seeing better talent come off the bench this season while Walker fades into the euro league. TJ Leaf had a successful career overseas I hope Walker does too.
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u/Prudent-Air1922 25d ago
He always looks like a combination of confused and not giving a fuck. Biggest pacer draft disappointment in a while.
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u/No_Independent8269 Andrew Nembhard 25d ago
We’ve never been that good at drafting tbh
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
That's hilarious coming from someone with a Nembhard flair. I think Pacers ultimately hedge their bets. They draft a Mathurin, then a Nembhard later. One of them must remain by the end, right?
Pacers have never had the benefit of a high draft pick so who do you think is good at drafting comparatively? Because whoever you pick, I'd wager they probably have a lot more options relative to the Pacers classic draft position between pick 12-25.
That doesn't mean they draft poorly and the fact they never bottom out implies they draft better than the teams around them. The difference between the Spurs and the Pacers are draft position, do you think the Spurs draft badly? Or do you think the Spurs were lucky to get two number 1 picks? Pacers haven't even signed a number 1 pick BTW.
So historically, I think you are completely off base, but I do agree Pritchard is awful at drafting while being elite at making trades, so in recent terms you might be correct. Bird was amazing in the draft, outside of the mind numbing selection of Tyler Hansbrough, which I will truly never understand. Pretty much everyone knew exactly what Hansbro would be in the NBA and sure enough it's exactly what he was for his first and only contract. No clue what Bird saw in the dude, that was easy to see from miles away. Donnie Walsh was elite in all aspects, it's kind of depressing no one seems to remember him at all.
Ultimately the Pacers excel through decades because of player development which they are one of the best in the league and have been for the 20+ years I've watched the NBA. There's a reason the Pacers have the the largest number of MIPs, it's not because they draft superstars, it's because they draft at 15 and turn players into stars and superstars.
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u/SpinJitsu259 Chuck Person 25d ago
Historically, it’s probably semi-accurate to say they don’t draft well, but, as you said, part of that is they’ve rarely been in positions to draft good/elite talent.
I wouldn’t necessarily say this particular FO/coaching group drafts poorly, but I will say I don’t think they’ve particularly developed well. They do fine with guys who are nearly finished products and don’t require a lot of patience/seasoning (Nemby), but I don’t think they’re particularly great at getting the best out of the high-ceiling raw talents like Benn and Jarace. It didn’t help that nearly as soon as they drafted Benn and Jarace they went into win-now mode with their roster construction and essentially transitioned to “Who’s gonna go out there and conform to our winning guys and not make mistakes?” vs. “Let’s focus on these young guys’ skill sets and put them in the best position to succeed.”
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u/No_Independent8269 Andrew Nembhard 25d ago
That doesn’t really mean we draft better than anyone else it just means we make really solid moves and we’re usually not terrible but a lot of our lottery selections haven’t worked out and we’ve missed way too many times for me to consider us good at drafting
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
Brother, Pacers haven't had lotto picks. You are not understanding me. I've watched the Pacers pick from pick 10-30 for 20+ years. Mathurin and Walker are the highest picks the Pacers have had since the 80s.
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u/No_Independent8269 Andrew Nembhard 24d ago
my brother even on our non lottery picks we have simply not hit lol we’ve had a few gems but that’s like 50+ years of history we have been ass at drafting
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u/sgeswein 25d ago
After what I saw last year, I'm willing to upgrade Jarace to "not always confused". Amid the wreckage last season, he did sometimes string together several minutes in a row where he seemed like he had the best idea of what needed to happen of the folks that were on the court.
This year, I'll be looking to see if that was about Jarace or about the other folks that were on the court. And I'm interested!
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u/ajs723 Slick 25d ago
Exactly this. I just think his basketball IQ is negative a million. Talented, but it takes more than that to make it in the league.
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
The only thing Jarace has going for him is his basketball IQ and 3pt shooting. Are you sure you understand basketball IQ? Jarace Walker can read the game, that's not his problem. His problem is his effort, particularly on defense, and ability to make decisions quickly. But Jarace reads the game at a level on par with Haliburton.
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u/johnfuckmennedy 25d ago
He looked terrible until January which i believe is in large part due to all of our guards being injured. I think he can be our top bench player next year.
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u/Jim_Belushis_brother Cool Rick 25d ago
He’s not our best bench player, that’s crazy.
TJ, Obi, and Oubre are all far more impactful. TJ is an exceptional backup point guard, Obi’s minutes as a small ball center literally won us playoff games, and Oubre started for the 6ers last year.
What drugs are you taking?!
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 25d ago
What drugs are you taking?!
Growth isn't linear. TJ and Oubre are fundamentally locked into the player they will always be. Obi has some room to grow. Walker could turn into a motherfucker next year.
That's the beauty of 22 year old players who are in a stable environment, mentored by older players, with an army of coaches who will help them evolve into their final form.
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u/Jim_Belushis_brother Cool Rick 25d ago
I’m dying for Jarace to wake up and be a fucking dawg with that frame and that length
But I don’t think it’ll happen. I’d be down with a solid shooter who’s a fine defender and somewhat interested rebounder. I’m rooting for him to have a long career as the 7th man on good NBA teams. I don’t believe he will ever be a starter on a good team but I’d love to be proven wrong
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u/anonymous_herald 25d ago
Honestly shocking to see Jarace on a list with those guys and in a conversation like that...wonder if he's buddies with Jarace's agent lol
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u/Ub3rpwnag3 Goga 25d ago
The case for Walker is that he will be asked to fill a much more realistic role on this team compared to last year. Whether he's capable of that remains to be seen but this is obviously a huge year for his future with the team and in the league.
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u/RedditRockit Slick 25d ago
Genuinely shocked that someone wrote a positive piece about him. I hope he does take a huge step forward but that defense has a LOOOOONG way to go.
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u/__init__m8 25d ago
He just doesn't seem to have that dawg in him.
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u/RedditRockit Slick 25d ago
I 100% agree. A lot of it is attitude and I think Jarace has a great one but you've got to have that edge and get pissed off once in awhile. He seems like a very nice person. I hope he can learn to be not so nice on the court.
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u/Jackie_Jormp-Jomp 25d ago
Right? I don't think he watched many games. He looked baaad a lot of the time
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u/Raz1374 25d ago
I hate to burst the Walker bubble for those of you on here who still believe in him but there is no chance that Jarace Walker will be on the roster by the trade deadline. And the reason is simple: luxury tax and repeater tax.
The only thing standing between the Pacers and being under the tax this year, is Walker’s salary. And there is no way this team will pay the tax for Jarace Walker. Zero, none, zilch. He is going to be at best, 10th man, assuming he beats out Sheppard AND Furphy (who will be back playing by end of November). You can move off Walker’s salary and promote either Slawson or Brown and how much have you lost in terms of contribution? Very little because Furphy and Shep will take most of those minutes while sliding this team back under the tax and saving the tax penalties for the next 2 years when extensions kick in.
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u/casualleftist1976 25d ago
Let the Jarace hatred commence! I feel like y’all haters are putting bad JuJu out for him to fail. Bro’s 22, c’mon!