2018 NBA Mock Draft: Promises, promises

Forget the Donovan Mitchell comparison and listen up: Walker is ultimately going to be valuable regardless of how close he gets to Mitchell because of his isolation scoring and playmaking potential. In a league where facing smaller, quicker defenders requires teams to play multiple ball-handlers at once, Walker can thrive.

Maybe Walker is an overlap in Denver — that’s sort of the point. Despite focusing heavily on the perimeter in the draft the last several years, the Nuggets still could use new talent there. And no one on the roster possesses the oomph of Walker in one-on-one situations, or has the same physical tools as Walker from a defensive perspective.

As for that Mitchell comp, it’s one that doesn’t paint the whole picture for Walker. It also ignores that Mitchell improved drastically from Louisville to Utah. He wasn’t quite a diamond in the rough no one had the guts to take until No. 13, but rather an efficient and impactful player whose game transitioned better than anyone imagined.

Walker is a similarly efficient playmaker and perimeter shooter who generates fewer steals and gets to the line less. Overall, they aren’t drastically different players. And Walker’s team situation as a freshman was close to that of Mitchell with the Jazz.

If this is the comparison we’re rolling with, let’s make sure it doesn’t limit the potential of either player, and that Denver ends up on the right side of history this time.