I wasn’t so disappointed in landing Walker as I was that we couldn’t land a SF. I figured we had the mMLE and THT, salary filler and a pick to make that happen. And I was disappointed how both of those assets got used. It’s over with now, so we should support him. He has clear athleticism and is quite smooth in his movement. Maybe some or that translates around better players?
agree on that, too--i would have preferred a sf, but they just weren't out there to be had, imo. some guys (like taurean prince, iirc) unexpectedly re-upped and basically nobody was traded for a THT-level asset that would have made me happy at sf. i think jsm is right that maybe lonnie's issue will be hoop iq. but i feel like people said that about kcp--whose physical profile and athleticism are very similar, imo--and he figured out ways to play. anyway, as you said, i don't see why folks can't just hope he improves and can step up if needed. there really wasn't a big opportunity cost here.
yeah, good point. physical profile really different, and they're aesthetically really different, but: +ballhandling, penetrating +finishing +drive and dump/kick -defense -long range shooting and come to think of it it's why i think lonnie will be buried like THT was last year. they both also share the possibility for a lot of growth, though, because there's real nba-level talent in each.
Darvin said that his D was ahead of his offense in camp. I thought that it would be the other way around.
Was it @abeer3 that noted Walker could get wherever he wants on the court? Hell yeah. He’s fun to watch with the ball. Great athlete. Hope he can knock down above average from 3. Better defender obviously than Monk and brings the same varied scoring threat and handling of ball to get at least a decent shot off.
He reminds me a lot of Shannon Brown, who during his best seasons with us I really liked as a role player. There have been moments where I’ve been blown away just by how high he gets on a rebound attempt, he’ll definitely have some spectacular highlights this season
Wasn’t the consensus D was a weak part of Monk’s game to go with the offense? Walker looks promising on that half of the game.
