NBA Rumors: Lonnie Walker IV, Celtics reach agreement after stints with Lakers, Nets | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats and Rumors
G Fiume/Getty Images
The defending champions reportedly added depth to their squad on Wednesday.
According to ESPN Adrien WojnarowskiThe Boston Celtics have signed point guard Lonnie Walker IV to a one-year contract. Walker played for the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets during his career.
Shams Charania of The Athletic added the contract details:
The 25-year-old entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick of the Spurs in 2018, though he only played 17 games as a rookie and never fully lived up to expectations given his draft positioning.
He averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game over four seasons with the team that drafted him.
Walker then played one season for the Lakers and averaged 11.7 points during the regular season before a stunning performance in the playoffs.
Los Angeles faced the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 2023 playoffs and entered Game 4 hoping to take a comfortable 3-1 series lead. Just as it looked like the Warriors were going to tie the series, Walker scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and made a game-tying jump shot and two key free throws in the final minutes.
It was one of the highlights of his career, though he fell into obscurity as a secondary contributor again last season for the Nets, averaging 9.7 points per night.
At his best, Walker is a player capable of providing a scoring spark to the secondary. He has a 35.6 percent three-point shooting percentage and can take advantage of the space created by playing alongside the stars.
Luckily for Boston, there are plenty of them.
Walker should carve out a niche as a shooter who can capitalize when defenses collapse on Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. If he can do that, he can help the Celtics make another deep playoff run as they aim for another title.
Maybe he’ll even manage to put together a few memorable performances late in the season, like his Game 4 performance with the Lakers.
