Player Facts
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 172lbs.
Date of Birth: May 3, 1990
College Experience: UConn (3 years)
Selections
All Star: 4
All-NBA: 1
All-Defensive: 0
Player Grades
Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 4
Positional Size: 4
Positional Wingspan: 5
Paint Scoring: 5
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 10
Passing: 7
Perimeter Defense: 4
Interior Defense: 3
Rebounding: 4
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STRENGTHS
Intro
"Cardiac" Kemba is a score-first point guard who has put the ball in the basket from all three levels throughout his career. At only 6-feet tall with a 6'3.5" wingspan, Kemba relies on his devastating handle, acceleration ability, and a toggling of his speeds/directions with the ball.
Score-First Guard
Walker is a threat when initiating the pick-and-roll as a lead guard, particularly as a scoring option. He led the league in points per game as the pick-and-roll ball-handler in 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. He often embarrasses bigger defenders following a switch, getting them off-balance via his shiftiness and elusive dribble.
One of Kemba's favorite avenues to explore in switch scenarios is to hesitate then unleash a low crossover or an in-and-out dribble to zip by the big towards the hoop. He also has a tendency of employing the hang dribble as one of his many forms of hesitation one-on-one.
Walker also likes to sharply split the two defenders attempting to trap and thus gain a huge advantage attacking the three remaining defenders with shooters surrounding him. Kemba has shown that he is a consistently strong decision-maker in these advantageous scenarios.
Reading the Big
Walker has the skillset to adapt to any form of pick-and-roll defensive coverage. For example, he will snake the screen-and-roll to get into the middle for a jumper or use his elite change of pace to get to the basket from this spot. Alternatively, Kemba will quickly maneuver into lateral space if the big tries to aggressively hedge.
He is lethal as a pull-up threat from both three and the midrange off the ball screen. Walker pulls the trigger when the big is sagging and slow to approach or if there is no switch taking place.
These pull-ups also account for the majority of his midrange attempts, hitting 48.5% of his shots from 15 to 19 feet in 2018-2019. That was a higher mark in this area than players like Kawhi Leonard, Khris Middleton, and DeMar DeRozan that are known for their excellence in the midrange.
Isolation Prowess
A solid isolation and end-of-the-clock option for his team, Walker never shies away from an opportunity to carry the offensive load in a pinch. His famous on-balance step-back jumper is a part of his offensive repertoire that he has carried from college into his NBA career.
The Bronx native also has a penchant for the snatch-back jump shot. Executed in both the midrange and on the perimeter, this is a move that few players do with regularity.
Deadly moves like this have propelled him into the upper echelon of isolation scorers for most of his seasons. 2018-2019 saw him place in the 82nd percentile for isolation scoring, followed by the 83rd percentile in 2019-2020.
He will probe the defense until an opening arrives where he proceeds to knife through. This under-control, patient approach to his game is the main explanation as to why his turnovers remain low relative to his playmaking responsibility.
Kemba is highly aware of his defender's feet and body positioning at all times, knowledge that he uses to his own advantage. He utilizes this awareness to dictate his movements and get into open space after getting low and exploding.
When Kemba approaches the key, he will often utilize a high-arching floater to combat defenders who are lurking deep in the paint. He likes the teardrop off of one leg in particular.
Free-Throwing
Walker is a good free-throw shooter who in his career has gotten to the line at an above-average clip albeit not at a superstar level. Kemba lives around the mid 80's with his year-to-year free throw percentages. He's a creative finisher who loves to use extended scoop layups as an undersized guard to avoid the defender's contest.
Walker has compiled a surprisingly solid number of and-ones considering his lack of size. He is able to get into the body of the help man and then hang in the air long enough for the bigger player to begin his descent. Now in his 30's, he still looks to penetrate - to the tune of over 10 drives per night in 2020-2021 (down to 7.4 per in fewer 2021-2022 minutes).
Open Court Quickness
Kemba weaponizes his speed and straight-line explosiveness in the open court as well. He is a viable transition threat as both a scorer and passer. In 2020-2021, he averaged more points per game in transition than players such as Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins, and CJ McCollum.
Off-Ball Repertoire
He is a speedy cutter and outstanding spot-up shooting threat where he gets great elevation on his jumpers. These attributes allow Kemba to be a high-value off-ball player on offense.
He is also a decent rebounder considering his size, a testament to his tenacity and toughness to get amongst the bigs. He will track down some contested rebounds as well on occasion.
Kemba is a capable three-point shooter who especially finds success off the catch as with most other shooters. As the one-guard, he usually must create a look for himself from beyond the arc thus causing his efficiency to suffer.
When he does get to spot up for three, he can be prolific. This is evidenced by his 42% efficiency on catch-and-shoot threes in 2019-2020 for instance (then 39.3% in 2020-2021). The vast majority of these were sunk from the top, the further-out three compared to the corner triple.
Pick-and-Roll Facilitation
Although he prefers to score out of the pick-and-roll for the most part, Kemba is still a smart, precise passer in these actions and in general. He will wait until he gains the attention of the big before threading the needle for a pocket pass or lobbing it up to the roll man.
Walker is also proficient when it comes to spraying the corners with pinpoint deliveries to shooters after penetrating the defense. He is also a willing swing passer, making the extra pass to get the offense their best shot.
All in all, Kemba averaged more assist points created per game in 2018-2019 than Stephen Curry and Jamal Murray as a score-first guard. More recently, he accrued a reasonable 2.41AST/TO ratio in 2020-2021.
Defensive Effort
Kemba exerts remarkable effort on the defensive end, especially when considering his sizable offensive load. He fights to get around screens when locked in and has ample agility to do so. He uses that speed to pursue hard when he does get hit by the screener.
Additionally, has consistently put his body on the line by fearlessly stepping in to take charges on much larger players. Walker is regularly among the league leaders in charges drawn which provides a more unconventional type of rim protection for his squad. 2020-2021 saw him land in the top-15 for charges drawn per-36 minutes.
Unfortunately, the aging diminutive guard has suffered some notable knee injuries, rendering him a clear negative on this end.
WEAKNESSES
An Undersized Defender
At only 6'0" tall, Kemba's size severely limits his impact primarily on the defensive end. Although Walker is decent at being an active, engaged member of the defensive team unit, there's only so much he can do being so undersized.
Being smaller than even most starting point guards, coaches are left having to either hide Kemba on defense or enable a mismatch that will heavily favor the opposition.
As well, he has increasingly had trouble getting around ball screens crisply, often finding himself trailing the play. Transition defense can also be an area of weakness for the UConn product.
He is far too short to be any kind of a shot-blocking rim protector. When defending in the post, opponents routinely gain substantial ground given Walker's 172-pound frame. This necessitates immediate defensive help and consequently leaves them vulnerable to various passes and cuts.
Offensive Inefficiencies
Overall, Walker is not an efficient player on the offensive end which can also be partially explained by his shorter stature. Identifiable as more of a volume scorer, he often needs several shots before getting to a lofty point total.
In the 2018-2019 season with Charlotte, Kemba was second in the league with 1684 field goal attempts but at an uninspiring 43.4% overall field goal percentage.
Since most of his three-point shots are decently contested, unassisted and off-the-dribble looks, Walker has never yet cracked the 40% three-point efficiency threshold for a full season. This is an especially troublesome fact since he shoots such a high volume of these shots
His accuracy at the rim is typically less-than-stellar. Walker's shorter stature and entirely below-the-rim game lead to his inefficiencies here. From 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, Kemba recorded restricted area clips of 54.1%, 55.1%, and 55.3% respectively. Fellow undersized guards such as Eric Bledsoe and Derrick Rose for example are routinely well ahead of Walker's figure in this area.
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