2011 NBA Draft: Is Kemba Walker a Legit Lottery Pick?

There have been many questions regarding Kemba Walker and his stock in the 2011 NBA Draft as of late, and to be very frank with you I don’t know why.

In my opinion he was the best player in college basketball and he lead the UConn Huskies all the way through the NCAA tournament this year.

Walker will be leaving college hoops as a winner, and I don’t see any reasons why the trend of winning won’t continue.

Even so, people continue to doubt Kemba’s abilities as a potential NBA player.

I argue that he has the perfect combination of speed, athleticism, defense, passing and clutch play that you look for in an NBA player.

The one thing that video and a ball have in common is that neither of them lie, so with that in mind let’s head to the film room and check out what makes Kemba Walker a legit lottery pick in the 2011 NBA Draft:

Speed

This is probably nothing that you don’t already know, but Kemba Walker is a fast guy.

He has speed in the open floor but what makes him so dangerous is his explosiveness off the dribble.

In this clip here he doesn’t make the basket but it set up the put back, and how many times have we seen him convert off of that lightning quick crossover move?

Kemba Walker is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the NBA draft.

Athleticism

Honestly the clip on this slide could apply to almost any of Walkers attributes, but we are going to stick with athleticism here.

What makes Walker better than any of the players in this draft is his ability to penetrate into the lane and make plays.

He goes up strong to the rim and often times can make acrobatics look like a piece of cake as he kisses it off the high glass.

In this case it just so happens to be in a clutch situation, but expect him to make plays for you all game with his athleticism.

Passing

Ok, so maybe the video for this slide is technically cheating because Walker is passing it to himself, but the fact remains that Kemba Walker is a play-maker, and it’s not just for himself.

Walker is known the most for his prolific scoring, but through all of the penetration that he gets in the half-court game and his poise in the fast break, he finds a lot of scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Walker averaged 4.5 assists per game in 2011 which is very good considering that his main role was to score the ball.

Defense

Again here is another case where the video clip really displays all of Walkers attributes, but for our purposes let’s focus on the defense.

Walker’s quickness and basketball IQ gives him a big advantage on the defensive side of the ball.

He is fast enough to step in front of an errant or telegraphed pass, but he can also hound an opponent into causing a turnover.

He averaged 1.9 steals per game this past season and 2.1 the year before.

The video quality is bad, but you can definitely tell what is happening.

Clutch

I’ll let the clip speak for itself.

Or, you could ask Pitt center, Gary McGhee, what he thinks about Kemba Walker in the clutch.

While you're at it, find out how is ankles are feeling.

Projection

Like I stated, I believe that Kemba Walker is the best player in the 2011 NBA draft, but others still feel differently.

Personally I don’t see how he can’t be a top five pick, but in reality it all depends on how the Ping-Pong balls fall, and the specific needs of the teams in the top slots.

Most projections have him going within the top ten which seems more than likely to me.

I guess we will just have to wait and see how it turns out.

In the meantime check out some more Kemba Walkers highlights!

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