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CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers went out and brought in younger pieces on the roster in the offseason in order to get younger and more versatile. One player brought in on a two-way is big man Jabari Walker, 23, after three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Walker averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds across his three seasons with the Blazers and will look to make a name for himself with the Sixers. The 3-year big man out of Colorado caught the eyes of coach Nick Nurse on Sunday on the second day of training camp. This comes after Nurse singled out the team’s other two-way big man, Dominick Barlow on Saturday.
“He (Walker) was very good today,” Nurse said on Sunday. “(Him and Barlow) are in a very similar situation, very similar positions. I think I mentioned this yesterday: Barlow’s constantly on the glass, keeping the basketball alive, etc. I did talk to Jabari about that. Jabari can really rebound the ball. He’s one of those guys that emphatically snatches rebounds out of there and he’s really good on the defensive glass especially. I just kind of reminded him yesterday that I didn’t quite see that, but I did see it today.”
The Sixers will be looking for Walker to continue imposing his will a bit on the floor. He is somebody who can do a lot, is a strong individual, and is skilled at this stage of his career. Nurse and his staff will be pushing him to do more in that respect.
“He did impose himself a lot more today,” Nurse added on Walker. “He was a lot more active kind of open-floor attacking, which we’re trying to get him to work on. He does have a handle enough and the size in the open floor to take guys on with some shoulder hits and some things. It’s a work in progress, there’s a ways to go on that with him, but he was very good today.”
The Sixers have a star trio that they will undoubtedly count on, but they will need their supporting cast to step up. Somebody like Walker can step in and give the Sixers some good minutes at the big man spot, whether it’s at the 4 or the 5, he can certainly be helpful for Philadelphia. It’s a good sign to see him producing early in training camp.
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