Kemba Walker selected by Charlotte Bobcats with No. 9 overall pick

by Kevin Meacham on Jun 23, 2011 8:50 PM EDT in UConn Huskies Basketball

Our congratulations to Kemba Walker, who was selected with the 9th pick overall in tonight's NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats.

After a run of international players clogged up the top half of the lottery, Kemba became the second straight U.S. point guard taken, one pick after Kentucky's Brandon Knight and one pick before Naismith Award usurper Jimmer Fredette.

Kemba is the second UConn national champion alpha dog taken by Charlotte in that franchise's brief history, as of course Emeka Okafor was drafted No. 2 overall in 2004.

Instant reaction: I have no idea if Kemba is a good fit for that lineup (D.J. Augustin is already in place there), and the Bobcats are about as generic a franchise as it gets. But hopefully Kemba can elevate a pretty uninspiring lineup to a playoff berth in the East.

And hey, playing with No. 7 pick Bismack Biyombo (actual scouting reports: "You can't run plays for him" and "Can't score") can't be much different from that year he played with Hasheem Thabeet.

You can catch Bobcat fans' reaction over at our SBNation brothers at Rufus on Fire. We'll be both here and on Twitter for the rest of the night, so let us know what you think of Charlotte's pick.

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Comments

Glad He Was Top 10

He deserved it. It’s a tough situation for him in CHA, but he’s in a situation where he could get a lot of shots. Plus, he’s playing for MJ now.

by Vuder on Jun 23, 2011 8:56 PM EDT reply actions

I like the MJ Factor

But when I looked at Charlotte’s roster, man…that is a depressing lineup.

TheUConnBlog.com

Thoroughly enjoying life atop the Big East.

by Kevin Meacham on Jun 23, 2011 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Majok drafted by Lakers with 58th pick

by Brad Silverman on Jun 24, 2011 12:10 AM EDT reply actions

Any other year, it would kind of suck to go to Charlotte

Mostly because it’s Charlotte, the Hartford of the South.

But I’m kind of optimistic now that Rich Cho, the former Blazers GM, is now their GM. They never really had a plan as a franchise, but it seems like they’re finally dedicated to some kind of direction, as evidenced by the trade to grab Biyombo. Instead of just trying to go all out and get a No. 8 seed, it looks like they’re finally dedicated to a youth movement (at least, until MJ freaks out and tries to get the No. 8 seed next year).

by UConnBlog Justin on Jun 24, 2011 10:11 AM EDT reply actions