Jabari Walker 8.28.25
Can two-way forward Jabari Walker earn a standard contract with the Sixers in 2025-26?
Happy Monday! As always, we are kicking off the week with 5 Sixers thoughts, and believe it or not, we will only have three more of these before training camp is officially underway.
In the last several years, one advantage the Sixers have been able to carve out on a consistent basis is generating value from their two-way players. From undrafted rookies like Ricky Council IV and Justin Edwards contributing to late second-round picks like Shake Milton and Paul Reed, two-way deals – contracts affording a player up to 50 games active on an NBA roster – have been a source of value for the organization.
As their depth continues to be tested by injuries, the Sixers are now forced to rely on two-way players more than most teams would ever need to. Their crop of talent this year – Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and undrafted rookie Hunter Sallis – should be considered a very strong one. But how strong? And how much does it actually matter?
Today, let's explore the Sixers' upcoming class of two-way players and compare it to other groups around the league.
Do the Sixers have the best group of two-way players in the NBA?
A question like this will never have an undisputed answer, but comparing groups of two-way players around the league just became a whole lot easier thanks to Finn Kuehl, an NBA writer whose passion for finding hidden gems led him to create twowaytalents.com, a database of players signed to two-way deals and unsigned ones eligible for them.
Kuehl provides a scouting report for each player and assigns them all ratings out of five stars. While this sort of thing will always be an imperfect science, Kuehl's site and database represent the most comprehensive attempt to quantify the value of individual two-way players out there.
Seven players signed to two-way deals across the NBA have five-star ratings on Two-Way Talents. The only team with two such players is the Sixers, as Walker and Barlow both garnered five stars while Sallis was rated as a three-star player.
Other than the Sixers, 17 NBA teams have filled out all three of their two-way spots. How does the Sixers' group compare to the rest?
Team Two-way No. 1 Two-way No. 2 Two-way No. 3 Total Stars
Sixers 5 stars (Jabari Walker) 5 stars (Dominick Barlow) 3 stars (Hunter Sallis) 13
Hornets 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 12
Jazz 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 12
Hawks 5 stars 3 stars 2 stars 10
Timberwolves 4 stars 4 stars 2 stars 10
Clippers 4 stars 3 stars 3 stars 10
Raptors 4 stars 3 stars 3 stars 10
Pacers 4 stars 3 stars 3 stars 10
Spurs 4 stars 3 stars 3 stars 10
Bucks 4 stars 3 stars 3 stars 10
Kings 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 9
Pistons 3 stars 3 stars 3 stars 9
Celtics 3 stars 3 stars 2 stars 8
Nuggets 3 stars 3 stars 2 stars 8
Rockets 3 stars 3 stars 2 stars 8
Suns 4 stars 2 stars 1 star 7
Pelicans 3 stars 2 stars 2 stars 7
Bulls 3 stars 2 stars 2 stars 7
Not too shabby. Most years, a two-way endeavor is a success if one player shows signs of being a rotation-caliber NBA player, whether they have experience in the league like Walker and Barlow or are a rookie like Sallis. It feels like the Sixers have three legitimate shots at it this year.
Daryl Morey on the importance and strategy behind two-ways
During a media availability last month in Las Vegas, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey highlighted the team's two-way players on multiple occasions. Some noteworthy quotes before diving into each of Walker, Barlow and Sallis specifically...
• Morey on signing Walker and Barlow early in the offseason:
"I think Jabari and Barlow, we were really excited to get. I think one thing to speak about learnings from last season was that when we had our key players out – Joel [Embiid], primarily – that really challenged our depth at the big spot. So we went into this offseason really prioritizing getting some really good young players, and our best tool to do that was the two-way. I do think us moving earlier on those two-ways was an advantage in that while the minimums around the league get squeezed in general in these systems, teams are carrying less players on their roster, and things like that. I think being able to get Jabari and Dominick, and say, ‘Hey, we really think you’ll have a role even though it’s a two-way,’ I think that’s an edge and we were thrilled they chose to join us."
• Morey on if part of the team's pitch to potential two-way signees is its history of bumping up two-way players to standard contracts:
"We do, because we’ve had a good history of guys coming in, showing what they can do, get converted and then either with us or other teams, go on to do really well in the league, so yeah, that’s an important piece for us when we’re pitching two-ways is it’s part of a bigger picture that we think you can be a part of long-term."
• Morey on how a strong crop of two-way talent can help next year's Sixers:
"I think that’s in general important, I do think it feels like it’s more important, as you generally are carrying fewer players on your roster, as you get deeper into your roster, you want those players to contribute as much as possible, I do think last year, that was one of our challenges that we’re hoping to handle better this year."
Jabari Walker's path to contributing
Much of the NBA world was stunned to see Walker sign a two-way deal with the Sixers last month after beginning his career with three years and 188 appearances with the Portland Trail Blazers, all on standard deals. He had one year of two-way eligibility remaining, and his market dried up to the degree that the Sixers were able to convince him to bet on his ability to emerge in a light frontcourt rotation.
"I think the guard play is amazing. There's great wings and obviously Joel and the bigs, the roster is pretty overall great," Walker said last month. "But I think that 3, 4 range is where I can bring some defensive energy, rebounding, [my] shooting’s improving, so I think there’s a couple different things I can add."
As Walker enters his age-23 season, he has many of the necessary tools to grab a rotation role and hold onto it. And if Paul George misses time to begin the season with his latest left knee injury, the path for Walker to become a rotation piece becomes even clearer.
At 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds with tremendous rebounding chops, Walker would have no problem logging time at power forward, where the Sixers will be grasping at straws to piece together 48 minutes when George is out. Edwards can play up at the four in small-ball lineups on occasion. Trendon Watford will likely have a decent role there. Otherwise, head coach Nick Nurse will be desperate for an option to emerge. Even if he feels like an innings-eater, Walker being able to help Nurse fill out a complete power forward rotation would be quite valuable early in the season.
In his first three NBA seasons, not many players of Walker's size have been as effective on the glass. His 13.6 rebounds per 100 possessions is an outstanding mark, and Walker has been able to make a difference as a rebounder on both ends of the floor. Winning the possession battle is something Nurse takes very seriously, and Walker has the ability to end defensive possessions while reviving offensive possessions.
After two seasons of poor three-point shooting (combined 29.2 three-point percentage on 1.5 attempts per game and 4.1 attempts per 100 possessions), Walker appeared to make some important progress as a spot-up option last season. He shot 38.9 percent from beyond the arc on 1.2 attempts per game and 4.7 attempts per 100 possessions. It is still a small sample, and there is a real chance Walker turns out to be more like the shooter who struggled in his first two years in Portland. But if his uptick in accuracy last season is a sign of genuine improvement, it is hard to imagine Walker not emerging as a rotation player. For what it's worth, Walker is confident that he will continue to shoot well from three-point range.
"First off, it'll be very important in a situation like this. Just relieving pressure off the main guys. We have some great ball-handlers and creators and they attract a lot of attention. So what's needed is that three-point shot, and I think just putting a lot of time into it has helped me a lot," Walker said. "It took me like a year or two just to get adjusted to the three-point line. I don't think my legs had enough to comprehend the game and then being efficient from the line, so I took a summer just strictly shooting, changing things about my form to make it a little bit more fluid, and it's been effective. I think it showed that with limited shots."
Dominick Barlow's path to contributing
Barlow does not have quite as much experience in the NBA as Walker, but has also logged minutes in parts of three NBA seasons. Barlow's first two years came with the San Antonio Spurs, in his second season he was converted from a two-way deal to a standard contract near the end of the campaign. He joined the Atlanta Hawks on a two-way contract last summer and earned a conversion to a standard deal with a month and change left in the season.
While Walker profiles as a big wing, Barlow is more of a tweener big. He has enough size to play the five and enough mobility to play the four, even if he has some potential shortcomings at both spots. And like Walker, there is a potential path to minutes for Barlow. Embiid is as much of an injury risk as any player in the NBA on a night-to-night basis. On nights when Embiid is out, Adem Bona should be locked into minutes. The Sixers will likely give returning veteran Andre Drummond every chance to assert himself as a rotation-caliber option.
Otherwise, Nurse's options at the five will be Barlow and rookie Johni Broome. Broome could have the upper hand given he is on a standard contract, but Morey has already hinted at the No. 35 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft spending time with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League during his rookie season. If Nurse and his staff believe Barlow has a better chance of providing competent minutes at the five than Broome in any given game, they will likely not force Broome into the game.
Barlow could theoretically work his way into the mix at the four in the same way Walker is aiming to, but the 22-year-old establishing himself as a viable center would be a much more significant short-term development.
Hunter Sallis' path to contributing
The Sixers waived Council last month, trimming their standard roster down to 13 players while the team continues its efforts to re-sign restricted free agent Quentin Grimes. Other than Council, the biggest loser of that transaction was actually Sallis, whose NBA opportunities could dwindle as a result of the move.
Sallis, Walker and Barlow can each be active for up to 50 games (the player does not have to enter the game for it to count towards that number). But no team is allowed to have a two-way player active for a game more than 90 times while their roster is below the maximum of 15 players. Now that the Sixers appear to be entering the season at 14 players again, they will spend their second straight season closely monitoring their two-way days.
While Walker and Barlow are both experienced NBA players with pathways to contributing in 2025-26, Sallis is an undrafted rookie viewed as more of a long-term development project. It is not that Sallis is years away, just that he has much more work to do to prove himself as an NBA-caliber player than his pair of two-way cohorts. Plus, Sallis is a guard, where the Sixers' rotation is loaded, while Walker and Barlow each can help fill voids in positions of need.
Now that the Sixers are ticketed for a 14-player roster, they will have to treasure each and every game of two-way availability that they have. If they believe Walker and Barlow have significantly better chances of contributing at the NBA level than Sallis in 2025-26, it will be difficult to justify activating Sallis for games very often until the roster is full. The wait for that to happen could very well last until after the trade deadline early in February. Sallis might need some patience early in his NBA career.
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