Jalen Washington Scouting Report
Seeing past the stats. That's key when determining specific NBA-ready role players among seniors. Washington is a Vandy-standout, and here's why I believe he'll have success this summer via Portsmouth
Jalen Washington (#13, Vanderbilt): Senior, 6’10”
Power Forward/Center — Born: Feb 21, 2004 (21 years old)
Introduction
It’s not always about production. Some prospects hide in plain sight and reach the next level because of playing and fitting into a team-improving role so well. After three seasons at the North Carolina Tar Heels, Washington transferred to the SEC to add depth to one of the nation’s best defenses. That’s where he’s providing his value off the bench at over nine points and five rebounds per game so far this season.
No eye-popping statistical outliers, but great fundamentals finding a fitting role at a program that’s aiming for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. A feasible role for Washington to grow into and showcasing his long-term potential is the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-10, the Hobart, IN-born is a long and strong athlete. Great frame, broad shoulders with decent mobility. He’s listed at 245 pounds and shows surprisingly well verticality. He’s heavy-footed at times, but shows decent mobility. The length is standing out, as he’s listed at a 7-foot-4 wingspan.
He has a decent core, but good footwork. He’s utilized as a five, but has the movement and skills to be a four as well. Overall, Washington has quick hands and provides most value as a shot-blocker. The broad shoulders are effective in his screening. Overall, there’s still potential to add bulk in the next few years, as his game is doesn’t revolve around strength and brute force.
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Defense
Pick-and-roll
Washington is mostly a drop-coverage five that’ll secure defending angles and space in the interior rather than stepping out and hedge or blitz ball handlers. The first play shows an example of him dropping in the drag screen, focusing on closing entry to the paint against dribble penetration. He’s composed and stays calm where he’s eventually collecting the deflected pass to initiate transition offense. He’s much more physical in the second possession, not allowing the ball screen to be fully set whereafter he’s immediately switching to the scorer. He’s stepping out and using his length to close the passing angles toward the inside, while showing out with his length impacting the scorer’s shot off the dribble from the midrange.
However, he’s flirting with going after screens at times. But that’s not the best bet for him to make. He’s snaked in the third possession, leaving the wide-open angle for the floater. Washington’s game is built on length and mobility as a pick-and-roll defender, to where drop coverage secures him the best chances to impact ball handlers seeking paint touches. The fourth play has him showing flashes of defending on the perimeter, but the footwork is not crisp enough to where he can stay fully in balance when ball handlers use their handles to attack his feet. Overall, composure and positioning help Washington to make winning plays continiously. The last possession below shows an example. He’s playing drop, and immediatey uses his arms to close passing angles, forcing scorers to beat him off the dribble. The calmness to deflect passes or shots puts him in good position to be a neutral pick-and-roll defender early in his NBA career and help sustain a team’s defensive rating with him on the floor.
Post-ups
Length and crisp footwork in post-up play defines Washington’s skillset as a defender underneath the basket. He’s not the strongest forward in college by any means, but he’s crafty in using his feet and length to unbalance scorers, even when he’s giving up ground. The first play has him lose a few feet of space after bump-ins by the opponent. However, he’s limiting the angles with his length while staying calm and not biting on jabs and fakes. Eventually the forced bad finish is blocked on his end. At 1.4 blocks per game off the bench and a stunning 8.0% block rate, his rim-deterrance on that end is feasible to translate to the NBA.
The second and third possessions show Washington with a clear disadvantage in the post. But his combination of good footwork and calmness makes the most of his length to contest close-to-the-basket layups. Not the most feasible way to keep forwards out the dunker’s spot, but Washington has many weapons to compensate for the lack of strength in some matchups. And that’s the most valuable part in evaluating his potential defensive impact for the next level. However, to maximize that impact, adding strength is a must when considering how much easier scorers get separation against him when they are isolated more, with the fourth and fifth plays below showing examples.
Cuts and defending away from the ball
Not biting on pump-fakes helps Washington to minimize getting burned underneath the basket. He’s reading the floor very well, doesn’t miss rotations and clearly the game is slowing for him. That’s helping him as a team defender getting stops underneath the basket with more motion around him. The first play shows an example. He’s following the ball well with the active tag on his assignment whereafter he’s rotating for the help after his interior defense collapses. He’s unbalancing the scorer, which is the most he can do in that possession.
The second play has him defending in a zone against two interior opponents, whereafter he had to rotate back after the touch pass from his assignment. He’s processing the game fast, and that’s what matters here. The third possession has him making the right decision by rotating, but since teammates didn’t follow up, he had to rotate back to the play-finisher underneath the basket. The fourth play has an area of attention. The scorer came off the curl and in Washington’s off-ball defense the rotation was okay, but he should have kept an eye and tag on the cutter from the weak side that he eventually battled with underneath the basket. There were no eyes looking that way. Overall, the off-ball awareness is tremendous. The last play shows an example of Washington knowing the drop-off pass would come, but had to help to avoid the better scorer to finish at the angle. He immediately switched back and contested underneath the basket.
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Offense
Shooting off the catch
At 25.0% on 1.1 threes per game, Washington is slowly increasing his volume as a shooter. He’s not used as a floor-stretcher, but that’s his role for the next level. That’s because the mobility is the interior gravity he’ll thrive off of where his screening is good enough to where he can grow into pick-and-pop shooter and floor-spacer. Especially since he’s showing flashes of good ball skills for a five.
The first play shows an example of him using floor-spreading to putting Washington on the perimeter. He positioned himself for a handoff, but quickly turned his hips and immediately took the wide-open three. The defense doesn’t respect his shot, and he’s showing the willingness to shoot while showing a good process. The second possession has him with space against the drop-coverage-five. However, he’s taking the jumper the defense gives him. That’s where other options were better, even if he made the three. Overall, Vanderbilt is supporting Washington to shoot when he’s left open.
Regardless, the percentages aren’t relevant, as the volume is not feasible. He’s setting his feet quickly while he’s showing a balanced high-arcing shot. The footwork is good. The third play has him pivot with his left, moving his feet to sell the face-up scoring attack while showing a good midrange jumper. I can see Washington grow his volume at the next level.
Screening and play-finishing out of pick-and-roll
Washington is a good screener. Not great, but good enough to where he’s giving separation to ball handlers before the roll. That’s the reason why he’s an effective finisher at the rim, finding his scoring volume. He’s rolling timely and not to fast, as he’s rolling by staying in the passer’s angle. The second and third plays below show good examples with him creating his easy dunks with his good screening.
But he’s dealing with tunnel vision on that end. The first play has him forcing the finish, where he’s lucky to be bailed out with the foul. He should have immediately passed out of that coverage, knowing it’s 100% one or two teammates being wide open around him not in his sight. That’s where the hip flexibility must become more functional, as his vertical pop and rolling after good screens are enough gravity for interior defenders to collapse on him.
Another area of attention is that he’s mostly finishing with his right hand. To be much more effective at the next level, using his left and being a two-handed finisher will be every NBA scout’s desire. That’s taking some value of his profile, but overall he’s adequate as a finisher at 72.9% at the rim without dunks whereas he’s a good screener which will have NBA teams use that to how they execute their plays with him putting walls on or away from the ball.
Offensive rebounding and putbacks
At a 11.8% offensive rebounding rate, Washington’s getting his fair share of production via putbacks. For the NBA the need to maximize their threes is the way most teams play. However, the other side of the coin is that second-chance points are mostly coming via long rebounds where the overall number decreases. More teams try to crash the offensive glass for easy scoring and finishing, and that’s where Washington will continue to find chances at the next level. His positioning is simply elite.
He’s boxing out hard and using his length to create cushions to sneak into to collect rebounds. He’s physical and tough and uses his enormous hands to completely use his length and catch the ball far in the air rather than it dropping to his hand or arms. That’s how he’s putting back in the first two plays. The other side of the coin is that he could pass more out of these sequences, as he’s surrounded by two defenders in most occassions.
Another area of focus is to not bring the ball down all the time. He’s bringing it down every time he catches the ball and that’s bailing defenses out to be more physical against him. Despite finishing at 72.5% from the line, teams will take the gamble and hack him rather than if he keeps the ball high, he’ll change that to a potential and-one.
Passing, ball-moving, and playmaking
At 22 assists to 14 turnovers off the bench, Washington’s showing his good ball security. The 8.6% turnover rate is good enough, as the trend of him not being afraid to make riskful passes being a reason for how he’s turning the ball over most of the time. The execution is consistent. The earlier-mentioned tunnel vision leads to him not averaging the assists he could have. But overall, Washington’s making positive impact with his passing skill. The first play has him not lazily handing the ball out, but faking the left dropoff to hitting the cutter toward the rim with his right. Good exeuction. The second play has him fake the handoff, draw the weak-side defender’s attention and hit the backdoor cutter with a dropoff pass.
Vanderbilt is using him as a hub, and it’s leading to Washington showing his creativity as a passer above the break. He’s also a good ball-mover, with the third and fourth plays as examples where he’s making a quick decision to feed the open scorer and shooter. The best part is that despite the tunnel vision, Washington plays out of tight markage underneath the basket in the last two plays. The ball skills here stand out combined with the court vision. NBA teams will have a good-visioned ball-mover and interior hub to their disposal, adding extra value to Washington’s profile.
NBA Draft Projection
We’ll very likely see Jalen Washington at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. There’s an NBA role for him as a complementary five coming off the bench. With the trend of more injuries, teams will seek cheaper options within the season while keeping an eye on sustaining their defensive rating when they make decisions.
That’s where I see Washington finds NBA minutes in the future. He’ll likely play to sign a two-way contract and have a lot of minutes in the G League in his first two seasons as a professional.
At over 275 (!) articles in 3 years, Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter is your go-to for draft content. Make sure you subscribe for much more!