Walter Lemon Jr. dominating as Windy City Bulls chase playoff spot

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The Windy City Bulls have had an incredibly eventful 2018-19 season. They ripped off a very impressive nine-game winning streak that started in mid-December, which has helped immensely in Windy City being a mere half a game back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. A huge driving force for the Bulls--both literally and figuratively--has been Chicago-native Walter Lemon Jr.

Lemon is a 6-foot 3-inch guard who played his high school ball at Julian and his college hoops at Bradley. At Julian, he was a third-team 3A all-state pick by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association in 2010. Lemon has 1,721 career points at Bradley, which ranks seventh all-time in school history.

He was undrafted in 2014 and had many stops overseas before playing five games with the Pels in the 2017-18 season. He started the 2018-19 season as a two-way player for the Boston Celtics before making his way onto the Windy City Bulls roster.

In the 2018-19 NBA G League season, Lemon is averaging 20.7 points, 7.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from the 3-point line.

Like most guards coming out of Chicago, Lemon has a nice handle and a shiftiness in tight spaces that allow him to navigate the pick-and-roll with ease.

Lemon’s reputation coming out of college was great defender who needs to work on his offensive game, especially his playmaking.

He has a decent wingspan for his height, and he uses it to his advantage to finish around the rim with creative, oftentimes reverse and or scoop layups. But make no mistake, Lemon’s penchant for finishing with a flourish isn’t just for show. Those twisting, corkscrewing forays to the rim usually give the 6-foot-3 inch Lemon his best opportunities to finish over length at the basket.

At the NBA level, the Bulls (or any other NBA franchise) wouldn’t be asking Lemon to come into the fold to be a big-time scorer, though he is capable of getting buckets in a hurry. They would be asking Lemon to come into a rotation and play with pace, and be a great game-manager who can prioritize getting the ball to the team’s best players (i.e. Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen).

Windy City Bulls coach Charlie Henry has used Lemon often on empty side isolation plays, where he can attack off the dribble and draw the attention of a help defender. While he has sometimes struggled with more advanced reads, he is very capable of making the dump off pass to the open big man, whether it be in the midrange or on the baseline.

The main problem with the Bulls offense with their usual lead guard situation of LaVine, Kris Dunn and Ryan Arcidiacono is that there is no enough easy offense out of that group. LaVine gets to the free throw line a solid 5.7 times per game. Meanwhile, Dunn and Arcidiacono combine for less than 3 free throws per night.

Lemon on the other hand is averaging just under 4 free throws per game. His 71 percent FT percentage once he gets to the line is not great, but just the fact that he can put pressure on a perimeter defense makes him a player who would be useful on this current Bulls roster.

With the trade of Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis for Otto Porter clearing up some of the Bulls roster overlap, Lemon could actually be a nice option for Jim Boylen when he is looking to go to smaller, 3-guard lineups.

With steal rate being a big indicator of success at the highest levels, it is very encouraging that Lemon is posting a 2.53 percent steal rate in the 2018-19 G League season. That is a very high figure for the metric and even it was to regress a bit, his steal rate would still rank among the top five on the Bulls current roster.

Lemon provides another solid option for a Bulls franchise that is reportedly looking at veteran options at the point guard position. In that same late January report from Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley, Lemon was actually mentioned as a viable option to be called up. So as the Bulls head into the final 28 games of the season, Bulls fans should keep a watchful eye on Lemon, as he has done more than enough to prove he deserves another chance at the NBA level.  

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