Your current thoughts on MKG

[StitchJones]

Will reserve judgement till i see him play about 20 games in the NBA. To be honest I wasn't a fan of his coming out of college, at least not as a top 5 pick. I wanted T-Rob or Drummond.

[bes628]

Same as it was coming into the league. Can't shoot.

[CampNightmare8]

He's got the work ethic to develop a jump shot thought

[kitch0202]

Well, when you combine SWedd's quote ...

True PGs are few and far between these days

... with spectres's (about MKG)

He has really good court vision...maybe being a semi point/forward is in his future.

... you can see that MKG could well have a highly important role as a second facilitator on this team. If we choose to look on the bright side and picture MKG as an elite defender, high level slasher/scorer, good distributer and above average shooter (2-3 years down the line) then we have ourselves a very usual player indeed. Essentially his shot only really needs to be good enough for opposition players to defend him honestly anyway. I'm very much in the 'wasn't a fan of the pic' camp, but that's past and for the sake of my sanity I'm looking for the realistic positives that MKG can bring.

[Veteran_Picksetter]

You're crazy.

I think Hendo will ultimately go the way of our other FAs in the recent past...but this time I hope we get something for him. Raja Bell to me is the type of SG that we need and Hendo ain't it...esp. with MKG just joining the team. As others have said I just don't see those two mixing all that well.

1. Alluding to my original "call me crazy" comment, I don't see how Kemba is a clear-cut better prospect than Hendo. Kemba has proven very little. Yes, he's still "new". He's had some nice preseason games. He also has one of the lowest reaches ever recorded at the combine, and he hasn't proven he can truly shoot/distribute yet. Meanwhile, Henderson dropped 46% in the first full season he was unleashed, on a horrible offensive team where easy shots were very hard to come by.

2. There was a time when people talked about trading away Gerald Wallace for a position of greater need so that we could develop Adam Morrison. Adam went on to be Adam, and Gerald went on to develop into an all-star 2-3 years later. The draft is a crap shoot. MKG is a number 2 pick, but he has to show it on the court. It's not like he was a clear cut choice in some fantastic draft.

[Veteran_Picksetter]

Henderson must play at least 30 mins a game this season becasue he's our all round best player. He shot 46% from the field last season and he will only improve as he gains more experience in the league. I would like MKG to get 30 mins aswell becasue i think he's got one of the best motors in the NBA and it would be good for him to get plenty of minutes early on in his career.

I hear ya!! Obviously I'm a Hendo fan. He could be knocking on the door of his potential like Gerald Wallace was back in the mid-to-late 2000's. Just give him more experience.

Henderson had his sights set on pro golf as a youngster, instead of basketball. That could explain why his handles and shot need refinement despite being a son of an NBA player.

I hope we can figure out a way to make MKG/Hendo work. It might take another deep-shooting big or combo forward. Or how about MKG the point forward with Gordon and Hendo on the wings?? Those three might be able to generate some offense together...

[SWedd523]

My fault. I did misinterpret what you were trying to say, but even what you are saying can be somewhat debatable because if Ryan Harrow returns for his junior season like I expect him to, I think you would see Harrison playing combo guard as the starting SG at Kentucky. Either way, discussing the Bobcats, as a fan I would much rather see Harrison play a SG alongside Kemba as the PG than Harrison playing the PG alongside Hendo as the SG if it came to that decision.

Hopefully by then we don't have Hendo on the roster anymore. Same goes for Kemba unless he can learn to play right.

That said, I'm not sure Harrow will stay around unless he has a bad season. I'm not high on him, personally, but the Kentucky Machine seems to be "get 'em in, get 'em out" and with both Harrisons, Young, and potentially Wiggins coming in, Calipari is going to be pressuring the hell out of the guards this year to leave.

[spectre]

There was a time when people talked about trading away Gerald Wallace for a position of greater need so that we could develop Adam Morrison.

Who in the hell was that?

Adam Morrison could just "score". Beyond that dubious distinction he was subpar in almost every category and esp. in regards to Crash. MKG is almost the exact opposite; except for his struggles with an outside shot he does almost everything at or above average. He's the one that should end up being a better Crash...the guy who made all star once. Morrison was also 22 when he came into the league...MKG is 19.

Hendo is a slightly above average defender who can't create his own shot AND he can't shoot from 3. His greatest strength is shooting the least valuable shot that others have to create for him. He's also inconsistent as hell. His handles are weak which also puts pressure on the other guys.

Kemba is a fast, pesky defender at the 1 in a league where most PGs can't defend their position. He can get to the rim at will and he can create his own shot. The more options put around him the more he's shown that he can get others involved. This is Hendo's 4th season, and before you point to his first year in not getting played because of Brown (I'd put it more on him not being able to stay healthy) you can also look at Kemba's first having to play under Silas' train wreck.

Most importantly, we have Kemba on a rook deal thru 2015...Hendo hits RFA next offseason.

[Plowright]

Did you have lillard in the top 6 if GE draft two years ago? No... You can't make statements like that, it's just foolish

[fan_of_a_fan]

Did you have lillard in the top 6 if GE draft two years ago? No... You can't make statements like that, it's just foolish

If I could redo the NBA Draft today and put Kemba Walker & Damian Lillard in the same classification, I would still choose Walker based on their collegiate careers. Lillards newfound acclaim and rise up the draft rankings was mostly due to a very weak draft class of PGs. Walker carried a powerhouse collegiate program in UConn to a National Championship basically by himself while being surrounded by unheralded freshman, meanwhile Lillard was a scoring machine for a mid-major that couldn't even win their own conference. I can make statements like that because in hindsight I'd still feel like I'm correct and not foolish. I may be wrong in foresight, but I can't predict the future.

Kemba Walker College Stats
'10-11: 23.5 PPG, 43% FG, 4.5 APG, 5.4 RPG

Damian Lillard College Stats
'11-12: 24.5 PPG, 47% FG, 4.0 APG, 5.0 RPG