Chicago Bulls: 5 potential replacements for Zach LaVine

Lonnie Walker

One of my favorite prospects in the 2018 NBA Draft is Miami Hurricanes swingman Lonnie Walker. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard comes into the draft as a probable late-first to early-second round pick, depending upon who you ask. That’s the one thing about this year’s draft — you’re not really sure where a lot of guys will fall after the top 15 or so players are gone.

Walker, though, brings the same kind of athleticism and intensity that LaVine does. He loves to go to the hoop and finish at the rim. Walker averaged 11.5 points in his 2017-2018 campaign with the Hurricanes and finished his season shooting the ball at 41.5 percent.

While his shooting numbers aren’t phenomenal (he shot 34.6 percent from three-point range), he is an attacker when he wants to score. Walker only started 18 of his 32 games last year, which is one reason why he’s somewhat of a dark horse prospect.

Walker has those long arms that you love to see out of a defender, and he knows how to use them. He is an above-average defender and could end up becoming a much better player in the pros than he was in college. Again, the sample size is somewhat small, but he has the potential to be an intense, aggressive defender in the NBA as well as a decent scorer because of his smooth stroke. Would he completely replace LaVine? Heavens no. But, he’d definitely be a nice start — a very solid role player at worst.