The signing of Lonnie Walker IV was a pretty big surprise. The Celtics managed to snag a very capable scorer who has averaged double digits off the bench over his past four seasons for a non-guaranteed minimum deal. He was coming off a season having scored 20+ points eight times and 15+ 17 times.
I thought it was bit of a coup; that Brad Stevens watched the new CBA landscape unexpectedly dry up the market for a solid NBA reserve and pounced with a bench opportunity on a championship team.
But then the chatter turned to Walker, here on an Exhibit 10 contract, possibly getting cut and stashed in the G League.
‘Utter tosh,’ I said (I was watching The Great British Bake Off at the time and got swept up in the moment). ‘Walker is by no means perfect, but he’s not a G Leaguer.’
Well, maybe he is.
“(Stevens) mentioned that there’s a possibility that I might spend some time in the G League with Maine,” Walker said in his first meeting with Boston media on Wednesday. “And honestly, I’m perfectly fine with that.”
So maybe we need to recalibrate our expectations a little bit. And why not? Walker has.
“My free agency hasn't gone as planned and whatnot,” Walker said. “So, Brad Stevens, he's given me the opportunity with the E-10 to kind of prove myself and show my capabilities offensively, defensively, off the court, being a great teammate. So I'm just really excited and grateful to be here and I'm just going to work to the best of my capability."
Walker has accepted that he is, in effect, starting over. He wasn’t signed with a bench role in mind. He’s not the Oshae Brissett replacement. He is just like all the other Exhibit 10 guys, except with an NBA history and a name we recognize. No matter what we, or he, thought this upcoming season would be, the fact is that it will now be much different. For whatever reason, the league wasn’t buying what Walker was selling.
“As a man, you’ve got to take it on the chin,” Walker said. “You’ve got to continue to work. You have to continue to be prepared and just keep being ready. I think I’m mentally prepared for almost any outcome that may pop up, and I know sooner or later that the worm will turn and that the light’s still at the end of the tunnel.”
Walker will turn 26 this season, so this is hardly his last chance. Even if he ends up becoming a regular at some of Portland’s fine food establishments, Walker is intent on proving himself all over again. And doing so in Boston is a little easier with one of his closest friends, Derrick White, around to help.
"It was good to see Lonnie again. That was my guy,” White said. “We were kind of just a couple young guys trying to figure it out, learning under (Gregg Popovich). He started in Austin his rookie year like I did, so we kind of had similar things. It's always good to see him. Good guy, good energy around the gym and he can do a lot of special things on the court. It was good to see him and just get back to it."
It also helps to get a sense of Boston’s championship aura. San Antonio was five years removed from their last title in Walker’s rookie season. He got a taste of greatness with LeBron James and the Lakers, but this training camp with the Celtics is still different than anything he’s experienced.
"I can see why you guys are the 2024 world champions,” Walker said. “The competitiveness, the effort, the intensity. This is one of my favorite training camps I've been to. So I'm really happy to be here and just be around such great talent.”
There's a world where Walker, focused on being a strong defender, impresses Joe Mazzulla and makes the team out of camp. There's a chance the opportunity to fill the bench role people like me got excited about is actually there.
But there is also just as strong a chance that Walker follows the same Exhibit 10 path as almost everyone else on those deals. There is a very real possibility that the best chance of catching Lonnie Walker in action will be at the Portland Expo.
It’s not what I expected, and it’s definitely not what Walker expected, either. But it’s where we are, and Walker is committed to taking whatever steps he needs to prove himself.
“I'm gonna work my tail off on the court every single day consistently, giving 110%,” he said. “However the chips may fall, the chips fall. But for the most part, I'm not too worried about things that I can't control. I can control being on the court, being the best of my capability and being my best self for my teammates. And sooner or later, the opportunity has to meet the preparation."
