JJ Barea/Kemba Walker

Kemba play an actual NBA game first.

I do not know where this uncertainty is coming from. Kemba is pretty much a guaranteed top 10 pick right now who has a chance going as high as 5 to the Raps. Yes, people are not sure if he is better than Kyrie Irving or Brandon Knight, and some other prospects may go before him, but I do not know what uncertainty their is about Kemba exactly. It is difficult to know how small PG’s will produce in the NBA, it is a position filled with talented athletic players. But, when you are at around 6’1 in shoes and being considered a top 10 pick, I think that leaves very little uncertainty that expectations for Kemba are very high. Unless you have expectations that Kemba should be a top 3 pick, I do not know what the beef is exactly.

Kemba won the Maui Invitational, the Big East tournament, and the NCAA tournament.  Around 6’1 in shoes, very fast, can create his own shot, and is very clutch.  Not sure what else people want…

I can see him being a very good player.  The Cavs need to think about picking Derrick Williams first and Kemba at 4 (if Kanter and Irving are gone).

"So why all of the Kemba Walker uncertainty lately? That’s all I read about when I read about him… and as far as I am concerned I think he has a much much higher ceiling than Barea and is already close to, if not better than Barea."

Barea is 45 percent from the field in the NBA playoffs, Walker is 40 percent in the Big East. Just don’t use words like close or better when comparing those two. Walker is a scoring guard who didn’t score efficiently in college and doesn’t have great range. That is a problem.

There is a big difference when you are the main guy and just some bench player and part of a more talented team.  Barea Barea is a match up problem mainly because of who else in on the court.  I think Kemba can hold his own regardless of having that much talent around him.

"most of those have come off of terribly defended (or not defended or contested at all) layups… any one of us that post on these boards and can dribble a ball could do that"

and those college runouts Kemba got weren’t easy?

Barea has NBA range on his shot, Kemba doesn’t. Even if Walker was to come off the bench in the same role as Barea, what evidence would there be to suggest someone who has been a 30 percent shooter from the college line would consistenly be 35 percent from the NBA line? From 16-23 feet, Barea has been 40, 47, 45 and 33 percent the past four years. This was his worst year, and he is hitting those mid-range shots in these playoffs.

 Lack of size for a PG is often more of a problem on defense then offense. Barea had a dream matchup against the Lakers because he could guard either Fisher or Blake and neither of them we doing anything on offense. He is playing great but let’s not get too carried away about this guy. 

Walker had a fantastic couple of months and maybe that is what he will be going forward. But there are a lot of other months in his college career where he shot a terrible percentage. If he is going to get pushed around by larger and stronger PGs in the league because he is short, then that is a cause for concern if he isn’t killing it on offense. 

But he is projected as top ten, so it isn’t like people are saying he is bad. You basically expect a top ten pick to be a starter for your team, so that is pretty good.