Bobcats Quarterly Update: Kemba Walker

As everyone in the Bobcats organization has either implied or just said out loud, this year is less about wins and losses and more about development. 20 or so games in, there are some interesting things that you can already see.

KEMBA WALKER IS A BETTER SCORER THAN LAST YEAR

As previously covered here, the rookie year of Kemba Walker raised more questions than it answered. The raw averages for Walker (18 ppg, 6 apg, 2 spg) look pretty good, but how is he doing it given the struggles we saw shooting last year? Here's a brief look (via Hoopdata):

• Kemba is taking nearly 5 free throws per game, an additional 1.6 on average. That's more than noted in-the-paint point guards like Tony Parker and Ty Lawson.
• At the rim attempts have gone up... a lot. As in, nearly doubled. While he's not as efficient as the best at his position (Parker, Lawson, and Kyrie Irving are all 60%+ on shots at the rim), it's his most efficient shot, and he's taking it more.
• While his attempts from 16-23 feet haven't increased, his efficiency has improved significantly. At 47%, he's close to or better than more polished mid-range shooters like Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Deron Williams, and Jose Calderon in this young season.

While 20 games is an extremely small sample size, the beginning of the season has certainly seen a Kemba Walker more than capable of scoring efficiently with higher usage. Combine that with an improved assist-turnover ratio, and the season has started to yield confirmation that he can more than handle the starting gig as an NBA point guard.