Ja'Kobe Walter Scouting Report: Profile, team fits, strengths, flaws and NBA draft stock prediction

As a former four-star recruit out of high school, Baylor Bears guard Ja'Kobe Walter was wooed by a total of 20 schools before committing to go to Waco. This shows the immense potential that all those recruiting schools fervently believed in. And fortunately for Baylor, he eventually signed with them.

This season, Walter has already established himself as the main guy on offense for the Bears and a potential NBA draft pick if he chooses to go one-and-done. Here's a deeper look at Ja'Kobe Walter's current scouting report, and where he could potentially end up.

Ja'Kobe Walter's scouting report

Measurements

Walter measures 6-foot-5 and weighs around 195 lbs with a hefty 6-foot-10 wingspan. He currently plays the two-guard for Baylor, meaning his size is relatively a perfect fit for his position. As of this writing, the Bears freshman guard has already put on a few extra pounds to his frame since his earliest scouting reports from mid-2023.

Strengths

Being an off-guard, Walter has been mostly relegated to scoring off the catch or off the dribble. And he already showed his offensive upside in his debut game for Baylor against Auburn three months ago. That game, he set a freshman debut scoring record of 28 points, exhibiting a smooth, consistent stroke from downtown combined with some excellent ball handling.

Ja'Kobe Walter is a scorer through and through, showing immense consistency once he gets in rhythm. He has all the skills and the rest of the intangibles to score on his own when the set play fails. But perhaps his greatest asset is his three-point shooting, which he takes off the catch a lot after exhibiting some effective off-ball movement.

When he gets his feet set and his rhythm is locked in, he feels like he can't miss. But when teams try to take away his jump shot, he reads the defense well and tries to get to the basket when he can. He's shown great touch around the rim, but he's still first and foremost a long-range guy – taking around half of all his shots from deep this season.

Defense is also a strong suit for Walter, which means he can affect a game far more than just his shooting at the wing position. His length allows him to at least guard three positions on the floor (via Sports Illustrated).

He'll be too big for opposing point guards and big enough to bang with twos. He could also go up to bigger, powerful wing players and at least bother their shots with his quickness and athleticism.

Lastly, he can read what the offense is trying to do to rotate just at the right time to alter or downright take away passing lanes. He has enough foot speed to at least keep up with anyone who's as athletic or more athletic than him. Overall, he remains raw on this side of the ball but is already establishing himself as a 3&D guy.

Weaknesses

The only big criticism of Ja'Kobe Walter's game at this point in the season is his consistency. He might be the leading scorer on Baylor right now, but he hasn't shot the ball particularly well for how many shots he takes every game. he shoots at a 38.7% clip from the field and hasn't shot at least above 35% from 3 this year, which points to him still being quite the raw prospect.

A level of inconsistency like that could mean that when he's not shooting well, his floor on offense is incredibly low for such a high ceiling. The only thing that could balance things out is his defense, but even then, that part of his game is still unrefined. In his last six games, he shot an atrocious percentage from three, never cracking the 30% mark.

Ja'Kobe Walter's NBA draft projection

Despite his weaknesses, Ja'Kobe Walter's upside likely outweighs his downsides in the eyes of NBA scouts right now. Numerous projections still have the young Baylor guard as a lottery pick at most, with the most likely destinations being the Detroit Pistons, (via USA Today) San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets or Toronto Raptors.