Who’s Better: Brandon Jennings Or Kemba Walker?

Before Shabazz Napier, there was Kemba Walker. Walker came into the league with a lot of hype and not a lot of opportunity to grow and learn from his mistakes. Playing for Charlotte meant most fans were only going to associate him with the team’s W/L record and for that, the UConn product was a perennial loser.

It’s been the same way with Brandon Jennings, another high-profile young point guard who’s been saddled with ill-fitting teammates and crappy organizations. Now both of them are closing in on 25 and neither one has really completely lived up to expectations, even though Walker’s helped turn around a bumbling franchise. Today, we’re asking you. Which player is better: Brandon Jennings or Kemba Walker? We argue. You decide.

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BRANDON JENNINGS
Point guard is arguably the deepest of all the positions, with a middle-tier consisting of players who in years past would have been All-Stars. (Remember Kyle Lowry‘s breakout season didn’t even garner an appearance this year!) Determining the order of this group of middle-tier players is highly debatable and could vary depending on what an individual expects out of his floor general. But, two players of similar size and ability are Brandon Jennings and Kemba Walker.

Player A: 17.8 PPG, 6.1 APG, 4.2 RPG, 1.2 SPG
Player B: 15.6 PPG, 7.7 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG

Solely based on the statistics above, it’d be hard choosing between the two, right?

Kemba Walker and Brandon Jennings are similar players in the point guard kingdom: slender, quick guards who looks for their own offense before establishing their teammates. Both of these ballplayers suffer from very low shooting percentages and turn the ball over frequently because of their helter-skelter style of play. Regardless of the efficiency, Brandon Jennings is the alpha dog of this pack of point guards. Kemba is the supposed young pup looking to take over the throne. (And the answer is yes, I did just base my argument off of an imaginary point guard animal kingdom. I must have left the Discovery Channel on last night) Walker and Jennings are eerily similar shooting the ball as well: Walker’s splits this season are 39.5/34.2 percent; Jennings is 37.4/34.5 percent. Their career averages are 39.9/32.5 percent and 39.0/35.2 percent, respectively.

This season, Jennings has the 12th-best assist/turnover ratio in the league; Kemba is tied for 22th with Greivis Vasquez. Yes, you read that right. Greivis Vasquez. Sure, I’ll admit Walker is in the midst of a career season for the suddenly semi-relevant BobHornCats. Sure, Walker spent the first two years in Charlotte running pick-and-rolls with Bismack Biyombo, DeSagana Diop and the immortal Byron Mullens. Giving him a player capable of catching the ball and dunking it in one fluid motion was a mortal lock to improve on the statistics of previous seasons. Add in the fact that he received Al Jefferson, who surprised me by actually playing hard this season after receiving an enormous contract, and you can see why Walker’s numbers are up; he finally has a teammate capable of scoring the ball! Jennings, for his part, spent the early part of his career playing Chuck IT UP with Monta Ellis in Milwaukee. I can’t and wont defend his shooting this season; Jennings is too talented to be shooting only 37 percent from the floor. But Jennings, who credited former coach Maurice Cheeks for his improved playmaking, has taken steps forward in distributing the ball to his teammates. Take Josh Smith‘s terrible shot selection out of the equation, and you get plays like this:

Both Jennings and Walker have shown their ability to get hot and put up big numbers, but Walker has yet to achieve them like Jennings has. Jennings was the second-youngest player to score 55 points in a game. Walker has gotten into the 30s and can probably get into the 40s too. But there are no 50-point performances in Walker’s history.

Which leads me to my final point–Jennings is in the midst of his fifth season in the NBA; Walker is in his third. Yet Jennings is only 24 years old. Walker is already 23, and not far off from 24 (Kemba is less than a month away from his 24th birthday). My point being, it feels like Jennings has been around forever and Walker is fresh on the scene. But Walker himself is right around Jennings’ age; there’s no reason to think they shouldn’t improve at the same level from here on out. With the “potential” argument being nullified, based on pure talent, Jennings is the better player.
-IAN FLICKINGER

Hit page 2 for Kemba’s argument…

KEMBA WALKER
Kemba Walker and Brandon Jennings have yet to develop into the top-tier class of point guards that seem to rule the NBA these days, but that doesn’t take away from the value they add to their respective teams, especially in Walker’s case. Walker was drafted in 2011 by the Charlotte Bobcats, who had then made their name as the most dismal team in the NBA, regardless of being Michael Jordan‘s team. Coming off a championship-winning year in Connecticut, Walker had little effect on the Bobcats in his rookie year as the team went on to set a new NBA record for least wins (seven).

Enough with the negative side of things, right? Kemba’s NBA story thus far has held a theme of development and progress. The 23-year-old has kept the course and has slowly evolved his game over the last two years. Currently in his third season in the majors, Walker has started to make a name for himself among all NBA fans and critics, as his value as a point guard and leadership figure has grown for the playoff-bound franchise. He has also been a fantasy standout for the last two years, and is averaging 17.8 points, 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game this season, as well as an on/off rating of plus-8.0.

On February 24, 2013, Walker was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his young career, becoming only the fourth Bobcat to earn this honor (Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson). Al Jefferson has since become the fifth Bobcat to earn this award with his two recent Player of the Week honors. In that week in February, Walker played perhaps the best stretch of games in his career, averaging 22.5 points, 8.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds in a 4-0 stretch after the All-Star break.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, Walker has receded back to his rather poor shooting efficiency that has habitually flared up during his two-plus seasons in the NBA. He averaged 16.9 points, 7.5 dimes and 3.6 boards on 36.7 percent shooting in the month of March and in four April games, his shooting has plummeted all the way to 32 percent. This is also his biggest weakness, which is something he shares with Brandon Jennings. However, Jennings’ shooting accuracy has gradually declined over the last three seasons, as he is currently shooting a true shooting percentage of 48.9. Meanwhile, Walker is slowing improving his shooting efficiency, from a true shooting percentage of 46.4 in his rookie campaign to his current 50.1.

Walker has the ability to beat just about any defender off the dribble by utilizing that insane quickness and crafty ballhandling he possesses. Earlier in his career, Walker would routinely get inside the paint in this way, only to see his shot miss due to the presence of inside defenders. He needed to learn how to adjust to this by either altering his shot selection or kicking it out to teammates. Now that he has a better group around on the perimeter and a beast inside in Al Jefferson, Kemba has more options when utilizing his speed off the dribble.

While Kemba’s shot selection has improved with the presence of stronger help around him, he has made a significant stride at the three-point line. Simply put, he is taking more threes this season (4.5 attempts per game) and is seeing them go through the net at a higher rate (34.2 percent). This new tool in Walker’s arsenal is just another area defenses must prepare for as he continues to develop his accuracy from distance.

While Walker’s and Jennings’ overall defensive stats are very similar this season, Walker has provided a better body of stats in his young career as a defender. However, the specific defensive area that has the biggest differential is between their stats in defending the pick-and-roll. According to Synergy Sports, Walker is a far superior defender in pick-and-roll sets, giving up 0.76 points per possession (ppp), while Jennings gives up 0.91 ppp in comparison. Walker is a better post-up defender as well, giving up just 0.69 ppp compared to Jennings’ 0.96 ppp.

Kemba’s quickness and athleticism also gives him an advantage of stealing the ball. Last season, he finished as the fifth-best in the league with steals, averaging 2.0 per game. Although his steals average is down a bit this season, there is still time for Kemba and the league’s sixth-best defense to improve this stat. Walker also excels at rebounding, as he is highly-ranked among point guards. In fact, he has the 12th-best defensive rebound rate (11.5) among point guards, while Jennings comes in the 59th rank (7.6).

Brandon Jennings was labeled a “chucker” during his time with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now in Detroit, Jennings was tasked in transitioning to a pass-first point guard. This has been a challenge this season, as the Pistons desperately need Jennings’ perimeter scoring, but his tendencies to jack up inefficient shots come with that need. Kemba also was dubbed as a shooting point guard and a “chucker” in his debut season in the NBA. While his shooting mentality is still present, he is learning how and when to shoot in his comfort spots. His passing stills needs to improve, but that should come once he strengthens his decision-making skills.

Kemba Walker continues to develop and improve each season. He is one of most entertaining young players in the league, as his quickness can amaze fans. Slowly but surely the Bobcats are improving, especially from their dismal days in the 2011-12 season. The Bronx native has an immense amount of determination and heart, and the young co-captain strives to find a way to be productive in any area on the court. And this will only improve as his career deepens, which is why Kemba Walker is better than Brandon Jennings.
-ELIZABETH BENSON

Which player would you rather have?

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