[Hoops Intellect Vid on Walker](https://youtu.be/ZvhL7dPEX9w)
Assuming the lottery gods don’t bless us with a top 4 pick and we draft our record, this is the guy I’d love to see on the Thunder next year.
He’s basically a better version of Baze. I don’t dislike Baze like others do, but Walker is a stronger version of what Baze is supposed to be.
6’8, 235 LBs, 7’2 wingspan. He is both a modern big and traditional PF at once. He is Jeremy Sochan on defense, but with more advanced skills on offense. He looks to trend to John Collins on offense, able to shoot, finish at the rim, and put on a nifty move here and there in the paint. He also has great court vision and passes well in both the half and full court.
He’s basically the hefty boy we need for space and pace. He can play that, yet bang in the post and handle opposing bigs so Chet can roam and block shots.
To me, he’s the missing ingredient, outside of the unrealistic expectation we get Wemby.
We need someone to set screens to give our offense more plays and sets to operate from. Check.
When we lose, we usually do so because we are out rebounded, and although we do pretty well as a team rebounding as a space and pace team, we are undersized and need a hefty boy to box out to ensure we don’t have bad rebounding games, ever. Check.
We can always use more defenders, particularly a big 6’8 flexible defender who can defend most 1-5 situations. You want to hit top 5 in defense to contend. Check.
Who knows what Chet’s final nba prime weight will be, but we want someone to take the paint abuse other than Chet. Check.
And we need all that without disrupting the style we are trying to build….we need that from a guy who can be a point forward, run the court, and be a net positive on offense in a variety of ways….doesn’t have to be a superstar on offense, just a positive….
…
…*Check*
I hope we massage the draft–trade up, trade down–to where our selection of him is BPA.
He’s the final piece, and I’ve said my peace.
(Hoops Intellect does a great job breaking down players, but that video I’ve linked is two weeks old, and since the new year, Walker’s offense has started to improve dramatically (he is a freshman after all and Kelvin Sampson teams take their time to pull it together on offense), so take that into account if you see that video or just look at his stats).
by 0siris0
3 Comments
He’s one of my favorites as well. He hasn’t shown a lot of it in college, but he is a really good passer and ball handler as well for his position! He moves his feet amazing for his size. He plays like a young Jerami Grant mixed with Bam, but in the body of Beef Stew. Would love him next to Chet.
I saw him against UVA and this guy is a beast! He stretches the floor as he’s shooting 40% from 3s and shoots a respectable 70%+ from FT showcasing that his shooting may translate.
He’s also very active as a high energy guy as he grabs a few off Reb a game.
My only qualms with him is that I haven’t seen much of his ability to handle / playmake nor his IQ as an off ball player… Sam is clearly trying to get players who know how to move with and without the ball and haven’t seen that from him much during the 1 game I watched
I’ve watched a half dozen Coug games this year, and I wholeheartedly agree. I think he’d fit seamlessly