Could Miami Basketball guard Lonnie Walker slip out of the lottery?
With the NBA combine and lottery coming up this week several new mock drafts were posted. Lonnie Walker and Bruce Brown will both participate in the combine. Where are their draft projections pre-combine and lottery?
Walker was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft before he ever stepped on campus last summer. His Miami basketball teammate Brown seemed like a sure 2018 first round draft pick. Neither players’ 2017-18 seasons or Miami’s as a team went as planned.
Walker tore the MCL in his left knee last July. That kept him off the court until practice began in October. Miami basketball Head Coach Jim Larranaga said that Walker wasn’t back to 100 percent until January.
Big things were expected from Miami Basketball last season. After starting out 10-0, the Hurricanes split their next 16 games. Brown went down at the end of January with an ankle injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
Both ESPN and CBS Sports posted mock drafts this week ahead of the combine and the lottery that will take place on Tuesday night. The majority of the picks on ESPN are behind their paid wall. The first 15 were posted on the Kentucky SB Nation website a Sea of Blue. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony projects Walker 13th to the Clippers.
Gary Parrish of CBS Sports projects Walker to go 16th to the Phoenix Suns. They ironically acquired that pick from the Miami Heat. The top 14 teams in the draft make up the lottery. Parish analyzed Walker’s future.
"“Walker’s freshman season didn’t get off to a great start — evidence being how he only averaged 8.1 points in 20.9 minutes through Miami’s first 15 contests. But the 6-4 freshman averaged 14.0 points in Miami’s final five regular-season games to remind NBA scouts why they view him as a strong-framed shooting guard with a future.He only shot 34.6 percent from 3-point range this season…Remember, Walker shot 40 percent from beyond the arc two summers ago on the Nike EYBL circuit. So his lower percentage at Miami isn’t too concerning.”"
If Walker is picked by Phoenix he would join former Hurricane Davon Reed who just finished his rookie season with the Suns.
Brown’s projections have been all over the place. Parish projects Brown 25th to the Los Angeles Lakers. NBADraft.Net’s consensus mock draft has him going 42nd to Detroit. Parish also gave a summary of Brown’s NBA projection.
"“A lot of people projected Brown to have a breakout season this season. But it didn’t really happen considering he played more minutes and took more shots but recorded a worse percentage from both inside and outside of the arc. His free-throw percentage was also down.And he missed Miami’s final 12 games with a broken foot. So it wasn’t a great year. But, that said, the 6-3 guard remains worthy of a first-round flyer because he projects as the type of tough defender NBA franchises need on the perimeter.”"
Either Walker or Brown is seeking to become the first Miami basketball player to be drafted in the first round since Shane Larkin in 2013. Larkin is currently on his fourth NBA team in four seasons. He played the 2016-17 season in Europe.
The Hurricanes will have players drafted in back to back seasons for the second time in school history. This will also be the first year that two Miami basketball players are selected in the same draft.
Next: Miami Hurricanes NBA First Round History Meagher
Dewan Huell also declared for the draft. He did not sign with an agent making him eligible to return next season. Huell is not expected to be drafted.