Shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV, who had been a tough preseason cut for the Boston Celtics, has ultimately decided not to explore the market in the NBA this season after all, despite having a buyout option in his EuroLeague contract through Tuesday.
Per Marc Stein of The Stein Line, Walker's agent George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group had indicated that the 6-foot-4 swingman intended to remain with Lithuanian squad BC Zalgiris throughout the season.
Stein noted that Walker, an athletic bench scorer in the NBA, does plan to re-join the league next season.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, that is no longer the case. Walker is now joining the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-season, $3 million contract.
The Miami product enjoyed a fairly successful NBA run across six seasons, so it came as something of a shock that the 26-year-old was unable to land on an NBA roster to start the 2024-25 season.
Across 322 total regular season contests with the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and most recently the Brooklyn Nets, Walker holds averages of 9.8 points on .422/.356/.795 shooting splits, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 steals a night.
He had a fairly reduced postseason role with the Spurs — for whom he played mop-up minutes in the 2019 playoffs as a rookie — and Lakers — for whom he eventually carved out key minutes during Los Angeles' charmed 2023 run to the Western Conference Finals as a No. 7 seed. Cumulatively, he averaged 4.5 points while slashing .471/.371/.750, 0.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 19 career NBA playoff games with L.A. and San Antonio.
In 19 games with Zalgiris, Walker is averaging 13.6 points on .387/.331/.857 shooting splits, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.9 steals.
With Walker off the table, where will Boston go to replenish its bench roster? Or will the Celtics opt to trot out their current personnel for their title defense during this spring's playoffs?
Boston has already brought in one intriguing bench cog, 3-and-D former Chicago Bulls small forward Torrey Craig.
