Can sleeveless Jarace Walker turn the corner for the Pacers?

INDIANAPOLIS – Jarace Walker is a new person.

He's in year three and entered the season with clear confidence. Early in training camp, he carried himself like someone that knew what opportunity sat in front of him. Minutes coming his way every night. Offensive reps in multiple scenarios. Chances for him to grow and learn after having inconsistent roles in his first two campaigns.

Even beyond what some imagined his season could look like, he is already a different person. His style has changed, now often rocking a warmup shirt with his left arm still fitted as a long sleeve but the right sleeve completely cut off. He likes the fashion shift.

And go look for his Instagram. You won't find it, he deactivated the account.

"Just taking a break from social media for a little bit," Walker said of that decision. "I was just on there scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Just a waste of time. I just needed a little break."

In the season opener, Walker showed promise: 6/11 with 13 points plus four boards and four assists against the Thunder. It was the exact start he, and the Pacers, hoped for. A few baskets here, some force there, and consistent enough production to be rewarded with over 30 minutes of playing time.

Then, his shooting accuracy vanished. He didn't shoot better than 30% in any of his next three games. One of those outings was in Dallas, which was still one of Walker's best-ever outings. He had 10 points, three rebounds, and four assists in just the first half and mixed in some great defense during his first start of the season. He finished with his first career 20-point game. But it took him a 5/19 performance to do it – free throws saved his efficiency.

Clearly, being in the starting five had him energized – and Walker shot 6/13 in his next game. But the general trend remained. After a productive opening night, Walker didn't make half of his shots in a game across his next 12 outings. In that stretch, he shot 37/136 (27.2%) and had as many or more turnovers than made field goals in half of those appearances. He wasn't just missing. He was making mistakes.

"Obviously I haven't played as well as I could be," Walker said last week. He's been trying to give himself grace with so much change around him. His role, position, and responsibilities have shifted several times this season. So has the talent around him. For a player searching for a stable role, it's been tough even if getting more minutes was a hope.

"Our job is tough. We've gotta adjust. We've gotta be able to move on the fly, make adjustments on the fly," Walker added. "So I'm learning and I'm growing, and it's a process."

At the time of Walker's reflection, his focus was on being more aggressive and getting to the basket. But he felt passive at the time, and his frequency of shots coming from short to medium mid-range is up this season. When Walker put the ball on the floor, he wasn't getting to the best spots on the hardwood.

With so many guys down with injuries, someone had to shoot. Often, Walker did – taking a middy over a smaller defender or an in-rhythm three, even when slightly contested. But for a while, they never went in. Across his first 13 games, the young wing shot 25.7% from outside the arc despite spending a ton of time working on that shot in the pros.

It all culminated in a hellish road trip. Walker shot 8/39 and had 11 turnovers as the Pacers were blown out four times. It was among the lowest points, at least statistically, in Walker's entire career.

"You can't be emotional, you know? Cause you do that, you've got a game in the next two days," the 2023 lottery pick said of his attitude after a stretch like that. '"So just learn from it. Watch film, grow, trash it, and then just get ready for the next one."

Pacers veterans and coaching staff kept telling the young forward that they believe in him – that they trust his abilities and hoped Walker's head would stay up. As long as he played hard, everyone was still satisfied even amid the struggles.

After Walker's best games, he would watch film and notice that he was playing inside-out. He was letting the game come to him and made easy plays from the jump. Some rebounds here, some good defense there, and he'd feel better throughout the night. It got him in the flow.

He likes that he's gotten to the foul line more often this year. He's hitting the gaps hard. But for a while, results weren't coming with it. Far from it, actually. Shots weren't falling at all, and Walker saw a glaring weakness in his game.

"Turnovers, just taking care of the ball. Making easy plays," he said. "I feel like I could be better on that side."

Finally, though, things are starting the turn for the Houston product. In game 14, Walker was selective and went 2/4 from the field, his first outing making half of his shots or better since opening night. He mixed in three turnovers – too many, for sure – but added two steals and three boards.

Progress, at last. "I'm just trying to just still figure things out, continue to be aggressive, continue to play my game," Walker said between that performance and the Pacers next battle. "Just figure it out."

His next outing, a win over the Hornets, featured 3/6 shooting with four rebounds and just two turnovers. The Pacers won that night for just the second time of the season.

Is Walker finally turning the corner? Maybe. It all came together for him on Monday night against the Pistons. 21 points, a career high, headlined his outing. Six rebounds, too, plus two assists and a steal. The turnovers were under control. Basketball Reference's game score metric says it was Walker's second-best game as a pro (remember when he lit up the Orlando Magic early in 2023-24?).

"He played well," head coach Rick Carlisle said succinctly postgame. Pascal Siakam told Walker after the game that he looked comfortable. "I just thought his process was really good," Siakam said. "He just kept the game simple. [Made] the right play."

One game obviously has a strong influence on these stats, but Walker's last four outings have been much better. Since the Pacers lost in Detroit on November 17, the young forward is averaging 11 points per game while shooting 57.7% from the field. He's pulled in 4.3 rebounds per contest. In three of the four outings, half of his shots (or better) went through the net.

Carlisle has stressed in this early stage of the season that process is more important than results for Walker. Right now, it appears the two are both heading in the same direction. Walker identified areas of weakness, listened to his veterans and his coaches, and stuck with it. His role kept changing and he struggled to make shots, but he kept going and is seeing some results.

"It's always nice making shots, especially when you put so much time and effort into it each and every day," Walker said after the big game against Detroit. "So it's nice. A win would have been nicer, but it's part of it."

Many of the classic young player tropes came out of Walker's mouth while answering questions after that game. He was in a flow state and wasn't thinking. He kept the game simple. He played with force and intent (less common tropes, but words commonly used when discussing Walker). It's a long season. All of them.

Sometimes, those phrases are fillers. With Walker, it's easy to see that they aren't. His drives were functionally better – all three of his two-point makes came from inside the restricted area. His jumper was working, an easy thing to say after a 5/6 long-range shooting game. Walker kept the ball moving outside of his typical right-read, wrong-execution passes leading to turnovers. NBA.com's tracking data says his matchup(s) took just four shots in total during the game, making two of them. His defense was impactful.

"I definitely feel like that's growing, just that force, that intent. Just knowing what I want to get to, knowing what I'm doing on the floor," Walker said of his process postgame. "And then just having a positive impact on both sides."

Walker added later in his postgame media session that it's a long season. There will be ups and downs. He said something similar in December of 2024-25, too, and his performance improved from that point on.

Consistency is still missing for the 22-year old. But after his best game, Jarace Walker is finally trending in the right direction. With less sleeves and less scrolling, the Pacers hope he'll keep it up.

Let me know what you thought of this story, please! Always looking for more feedback. You can email me here or contact me on social media. And sign up below to have these stories in your inbox.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East