NBA Draft: Could Lonnie Walker IV be the dynamic guard the Bucks need?

What the experts say

(as of 6/7/18)

ESPN (Jonathan Givony): 13th

The Ringer (Kevin O’Connor, Jonathan Tjarks, Danny Chau): 11th

Sports Illustrated (Jeremy Woo): 13th

Sporting News (Chris Stone): 15th

The Athletic (Sam Vecenie): 13th

The Stepien (Composite Rank): 24th

The Step Back (Brandon Kleen): 15th

Quotes:

Giving plenty of context behind why Walker’s lone season in Coral Gables didn’t go as smoothly as someone of his prospect pedigree, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie writes that Walker’s skill set and work ethic will entice teams late in the lottery or just outside of that range:

"“Walker was a pretty complicated evaluation this year. First and foremost, he missed a decent portion of his offseason after undergoing knee surgery in the summer — something that NBA teams will certainly want to get a look at in the predraft process. Then, Bruce Brown got hurt, taking away the team’s best passer and initiator. From there, things were kind of a mess, as Ja’Quan Newton struggled quite a bit, Chris Lykes got acclimated to college hoops and Jim Larranaga only played one other floor-spacing threat next to Walker. That meant that any time Walker wanted to try to attack closeouts — something that was an integral part of his prep career — defenses closed in on him and either forced him into a contested look or made him pass it off. Basically, the situation in Miami was not necessarily conducive to what Walker being able to show what he did in high school, where he was considered a potential top-10 pick. When the flashes came this year, you saw a player who could consistently get hot from distance, attack off the bounce to finish above the rim and provide defensive impact. He’s the prototypical spot-up threat in the modern NBA on offense, and with a 6-10 wingspan has potential to provide solid defense, too. The Philadelphian is also considered to be a terrific, mature kid in terms of the work he puts in, meaning he should be expected to put in the work necessarily to improve. He’ll be a solid mid-first-round pick for someone.”"

Cole Zwicker over at The Stepien offers up that while we didn’t see the best of Walker on a consistent basis, the former McDonald’s All-American has a ways to go in some vital areas of his game to reach his ceiling as a player:

"“Working back into form from a right knee meniscus injury and struggling to acquire a defined offensive role with higher usage due to Miami’s guard-heavy rotation at the beginning of the season, we might not have seen Walker’s best this year. His NBA frame and athleticism, projectable shooting stroke, burgeoning craft as a finisher and agility on defense presents an appealing package. However, the fact that the light never fully went on for Walker is disconcerting. He looks better as a prospect when you look at the micro projectable components of his game such as his shooting and on-ball defense, but when you step back to look at his game in a macro-sense playing within a team construct especially contributing to winning, his lack of instincts on both ends and dicey on-ball creation dynamism paints a more skeptical picture. The reality is Walker is going to have to become a knockdown high volume 3-point shooter to justify him going in the lottery area, and while he has some sneaky Donovan Mitchell mechanics upside that isn’t buttressed by the stats (emphasis on only the shooting mechanics element here), that aspect of his game also isn’t a shoe-in. In the 20s range Walker has some two-way appeal, especially if he goes to the right development situation, but as a riskier shot-dependent prospect, he has a low floor.”"