Lonnie Walker

So my son just told me we just signed Lonnie Walker to a one year contract. Great move, this kid can score. Thought no way we could sign him as we have too many cap restrictions, but we got him for nothing and this kid has a knack for scoring. SH has some competition for minutes now….

Funny, my son just emailed me with this info too. I guess it is an Exhibit 10 contract. This is interesting

Celtics sign Lonnie WalkerIV to a one year exhibit ten contract:
The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics have added another veteran player to their roster.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday night that the C's have signed free agent Lonnie Walker IV to a one-year contract.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported further details on Walker's deal:



The 25-year-old guard joins a Celtics roster that is nearly identical to the one that beat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. The top 11 players in minutes per game from that championship team are returning for the 2024-25 campaign.

Walker was a first-round pick (No. 18 overall) by the San Antonio Spurs in 2018. He played for the Brooklyn Nets last season and averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 58 games.

Walker should be a good fit for the Celtics given his impressive athleticism and ability to knock down 3-pointers. Walker shot 38.4 percent on 3-point attempts last season.

The University of Miami product isn't likely to play a major role in the Celtics offense, but he should be able to provide reliable scoring off the bench, and that is always valuable.

MY NOTE: He has been bothered by tendinitis in his knee, if he/medical staff can manage it he could be an “instant offense” player off the bench.

Exhibit 10 contracts are one year NON-GUARANTEED contract.  Basically it's a camp deal.



Bob


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I’ve seen him play for awhile, can create on his own and provide bursts. Playing with our talent, he can get wide open lanes and looks, can definitely help us. He must have really wanted to play with us, I’m sure he could have gotten more somewhere.

Celtics agree to one-year nonguaranteed deal with ex-Nets guard Lonnie Walker


By Adam Himmelsbach

Globe Staff,Updated August 28, 2024, 8:42 p.m.




Jayson Tatum drives the lane on Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV at the Garden in November. Walker reportedly is joining the Celtics on a one-year deal.Barry Chin/Globe Staff



The Celtics on Wednesday signed veteran guard Lonnie Walker to a one-year contract, a league source confirmed. As part of the non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, if Walker is waived, he would receive a $77,500 bonus
if he agrees to join the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine.

Walker will have a chance to compete for Boston’s final regular roster spot. In an interview with the Globe earlier this month, Celtics president of basketball operation Brad Stevens hinted that Boston would likely take this approach when determining how or whether to fill the opening.

“We’re just going to monitor the health of our team and see how everybody’s doing, and if there’s any issues that arise between now and September that we need to really address, then we might use it,” Stevens said. “But right now I’d say it’s unlikely. We’re still looking to sign a couple of Exhibit-10s that their most likely path will be to play in Maine. But we’ll see.”


The Spurs selected Walker with the 18th pick of the 2018 draft. Walker spent four seasons in San Antonio and averaged a career-high 12.2 points per game in 2021-22, his final year with the team. He started 32 games for the Lakers in 2022-23 and spent this past season with the Nets, averaging 9.7 points while shooting 38.7 percent from the 3-point line.

Walker tallied 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in Brooklyn’s 121-107 loss to the Celtics on Nov. 10.


Bob
MY NOTE:  6"4", 205#, 6'10" wingspan.  Going on 26 years old.  Shot 38.4% from 3 last season on a respectable 271 3pt fgas.  That's the good news.  The bad news is he took a total of 492 fgas, so > 50% of his fgas were 3s.  This might make Joe happy, but not so much me.  His sophomore year saw decent minutes (almost 1000).  His defense for that season and the next 4 showed Defensive Ratings between 115-117.  Spurs, Lakers, Brooklyn.  None of them known for their defense, true, but 115-117 doesn't impress me.

Comparison 2023-2024:  
Walker with 1011 minutes, Springer with 507 minutes (Philly + Boston)
6'4", 205# for both players, 6'7 1/2" wingspan for Springer vs 6'10" for Walker.  A 6'10" wingspan on a 6'4" player is ridiculous, it's 1.08:1 for wingspan:height.  NBA players, in general, have longer wingspans vs height than average people.  Still, even for the NBA, the norm is 1.047:1.

................................3p%...............apg.........TOpg...........Spg..........Blkpg.........ppg........OffRtg..........DefRtg
Lonnie Walker IV----38.4------------1.3--------.9------------.6----------.3-----------9.7------105-----------117
Jaden Springer------20.8------------.5---------.5------------.6----------.2-----------2.1-------101-----------110

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Tough comparison because Springer switched teams and barely played on the Celtics.  Furthermore, Springer is only 21 years old with 3 years experience while Walker is almost 26 and has 6 years experience.  602 total NBA minutes for Springer vs 6548 for Walker, 10X as many.  Walker should be further along.  

The reason why I made this comparison is because they seem to play similar roles.  There are no two-way contracts left to offer.  There is an open spot on the Boston roster but do we really need another guard?  We have the best back court in the league, Pritchard has earned himself significant minutes this coming year (as it is he played 1825 minutes last year by playing in an Ironman 82 games).  Do you think this means that Springer is gone?  He makes $4M this year without the luxury tax added.  Any player that signs an Exhibit 10 contract isn't signing a big, lucrative one.


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Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
yesterday
Lonnie Walker was one of our fav trade possibilities in February. Now Brad gets him on an Exhibit 10. Great opportunity for both sides.


Bob
MY NOTE: I don't know who Forsberg was referring to when he said Walker was one of "our" fav trade possibilities. "Our" as in his, or ours as in he knows the thinking of the Celtic scouts and front office?

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https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/08/celtics-sign-veteran-guard-to-compete-for-roster-spot.html



Celtics sign veteran guard to compete for roster spot


Updated: Aug. 28, 2024, 9:01 p.m.|Published: Aug. 28, 2024, 8:59 p.m.


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



The Celtics are bringing in a familiar name to their loaded backcourt for training camp as Brad Stevens continues to put the final touches on the roster. Former Nets guard Lonnie Walker has agreed to a one-year deal with Boston, a league source confirmed to MassLive. The contract is an Exhibit 10 deal which makes the pact non-guaranteed. Walker can receive a bonus worth $77,500 if he doesn’t make the team but elects to play for the Maine Celtics in the G-League for at least 60 days. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com was first to report the deal.

Walker is one of the better guards that remained on the free agent market this September. The 25-year-old averaged 9.7 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Nets as a reserve last season, appearing in 58 games. He also shot 38.4 percent from 3-point range, his best mark since the 2019-20 season.

The athletic guard gambled on himself with a veteran’s minimum deal last season in Brooklyn but with that team looking to rebuild, it appears he’s looking to gamble on himself again by trying to earn a roster spot in Boston. Boston currently has 14 players signed to guaranteed deals but have regularly kept a final roster spot open for flexibility at the start of the season. Offseason surgery for big man Kristaps Porzingis has also put a bit of a premium on big-man depth to begin the year for the team so an additional injury in the frontcourt could lead to the front office adding another big. However, Walker could be another spark plug option off the bench behind Payton Pritchard if he impresses in training camp and makes the team. That would give the Celtics a potential upgrade over the departed Svi Mykhailiuk in the backcourt.

Walker was selected by the Spurs in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft and spent the first four years of his career in San Antonio before a couple of stops with Lakers and Nets. He has averaged 9.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game over six seasons on 42.2% shooting from the field and 35.6% from 3-point range.


Bob
MY NOTE:  I haven't watched him to know how good he is, but this is a no-risk play for Brad.  We get to take a look at him, we have a deal in place for him to go to Maine if he doesn't make the team.  I suspect if he's as good as some are suggesting I don't know why he would go to Maine, why he wouldn't get picked up by another team, but he might.

Brad's pretty good at this GM stuff.

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Always good to have a few more bodies when you get to camp in the Fall.

You never know; some of these types actually end up making the roster, a few even end up contributing.

Bob
MY NOTE:  What I'm liking about this highlight film is that I'm actually seeing some defensive highlights.  Usually they're all dunks and 3s.  There aren't many NBA players who cannot dunk, so who cares?  You really see just how looong his arms are.  His defensive stat numbers haven't been impressive career-to-date but Welcome To Boston Mr. Walker!  Today is the first day of the rest of your career.   In case you don't know we had an elite defense last year and we expect to have that again this year.  You want to make this team?  You want minutes?  Play defense.

Side stat:  23% of his 3s last season were corner 3s and he shot 45.2% from there.  The league is "corner 3 crazy".  Every coach loves them because they're only 22' shots and you get a whole extra point for making them.  A 2 pt fgm from the top of the key is 18' (the frito line is 15', the circle that is bisected by the frito line has a 6' radius.  Therefore it is 3' straight out from the nail to the top of the key).  

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Thanks Bob, his highlights look really good. Guy can create and score in traffic. It’s a long season, at some point D White and Jrue are going to need a few games off. I can see him playing well with either at the 2, has real scoring instincts and ability. Another great move by Brad!! He is so good.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Thanks Bob, his highlights look really good. Guy can create and score in traffic. It’s a long season, at some point D White and Jrue are going to need a few games off. I can see him playing well with either at the 2, has real scoring instincts and ability. Another great move by Brad!! He is so good.

Cow,

Mr. Walker has to make the team first. An Exhibit 10 contract is just a non-guaranteed camp contract, an invitation to compete.


Bob


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This guy can score, he's got that microwave in him. This move seems like low risk, high reward to me.

Walker is an NBA quality player.  He is no G-Leaguer.  I am surprised that he was available on the cheep.  If he makes the roster he would likely get the 6 year veteran minimum (one year around $2.6 million)

I am kinda surprised that folks do not seem to remember him

He played for POP.  Maybe you will remember that he had quite the hairdo.  Look, See...now do you remember?

https://www.google.com/search?q=Images+of+Lonnie+Walker+jr&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS1064US1064&oq=Images+of+Lonnie+Walker+jr&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigAdIBCjExMzk3ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

So he is a 6' 4" SG with 6' 10"  wingspan.  He is a good defender and a career 35% shooter from deep.  That is not a bad thing.  Our Celtics team is built on the fundamental principle that we love 3 point shooting.  There is nothing wrong with adding another 3 point shooter that just happens to have a few other tools in the box.

He is pretty athletic and runs the floor very  well.  Defensively he should fit in.

Why add another guard/wing?

How about the Celtics playing less 2-big lineups with KP on IR and AH growing older every second.  I think we are going to see more single big lineups with 3 wings and a PG.  And maybe the grueling regular season and playoff run demands having another experience player to add into the rotation.  Maybe less minutes are on the horizon for Jrue.  However, I think his minutes will come from playing with a single big in the lineup.  

I do not know how his addition will impact the projected rotations (minus KP)  The depth most likely not to play much includes Jaden Springer, Jordan Walsh and rookie Baylor Scheierman.  Our depth heavily weighs on the side of defense as Springer cannot shoot and Walsh is a work in progress.  It is the same situation with all of our BU bigs.  (about 15 PPG between Kornet, Queta and Tillman)

Just think you could play PP at point, Walker at the 2 and Hauser at the 3.  

Brad Stevens has accomplished quite a bit during the off season by securing long term deals for his top rotation guys, plus 3rd tier rotation guys.  But staying on top demands a quality addition to the mix as the competition is adding talent.

and the Dunks more specifically

Thank you Bob for posting the 23-24 highlight reel.

As we can see he has handle, runs the floor well but stays in control (only.09 turnovers per game) He can make buckets with either hand.

He is no one-trick pony.

When PP and SH find themselves in a shooting funk, their offense pretty much disappears. Walker should thrive in our high Octane offense. If you try to close out on him, he will take you to the cup! His corner 3 point shooting efficiency is the shot of choice in the 3 point game.

Celtics17 wrote:This guy can score, he's got that microwave in him. This move seems like low risk, high reward to me.

+1

Was just going to say the same thing, definitely can heat up fast. He might have more pure scoring ability than D White and Jrue right now and will be improved playing off our guys and the way this staff can further develop players.

6-10, where would you project him on the depth chart?

dboss wrote:6-10, where would you project him on the depth chart?

Need a few games/weeks to see him assimilate, but on a talent level could easily be cutting into minutes of SH and Pritch. In match ups where we can exploit his size, athleticism and running ability, he can be a force no question.

Article on the Celtics signing Lonnie Walker:
https://share.newsbreak.com/8fx75pp2?s=i16

So, did Osche hedge his bet here? All I have heard all summer is, "it isn't dead yet" "possibility" and in the mean time Brad has moved on. Maybe he will end up with Philly or another team as the league seems to be scooping up Ex Celtics. He is a good kid, I hope he gets what he is searching for

dbrown4 wrote:All great reads, willjr!  Thank you for these!!

db

Thanks db4! I thought my fellow forum members would enjoy reading about a player that I think has the potential to be a dynamic scorer coming off the bench. Maybe not Vinnie Johnson or Jamal Crawford but in combination with Sam H. and PP our bench mob can be a killer squad.

Jason
Jaylen
Jrue
Derrick
AL

Payton
Sam
Baylor
Xavier
Kornet

Lonnie Walker doesn't push any of them back, IMO. So, not in the top 10, barely in the edge of the deep rotation (11-13?)

He's not headed to Maine, so he makes it here or elsewhere.

Lonnie, Jaden and Jordan may be playing musical chairs for two seats. With Jaden having the highest salary, he may be the odd man out.