Celtics waive Lonnie Walker IV

The Celtics waived Lonnie Walker IV in the present day after he signed an Exhibit 10 contract this offseason. Walker can now go to the G-League and be a part of the Maine Celtics or signal with one other staff.

In 4 video games with the Celtics this preseason, Lonnie Walker averaged 7.3 factors, 2.5 assists, 1.5 rebounds, taking pictures 42.8% from the sector and 31.2% from three-point vary.

When requested about Walker, Derrick White, who was a teammate with Walker in San Antonio, mentioned, “Nice man. Works arduous. You would inform he has loads of ardour. Thats my man clearly.”

Luke Kornet mentioned after apply, “I really like Lonnie. He’s an awesome participant. His power, pleasure, and keenness…I by no means acquired the chance to know him carefully till these previous few weeks and he’s been nice to have round. A pleasure to play with and a pleasure to work with.”

Joe Mazzulla was additionally requested about Walker being waived. Mazzulla mentioned, “he got here in along with his head down and simply wished to work and to have an understanding of what it’s like taking part in our model of basketball.” He continued, “I believed he did a very good job of executing that within the time that he had, I believed he did an awesome job being affected person, executing the position we would have liked him to.”

When requested about making roster choices with Brad Stevens, Mazzulla added, “we speak every single day, we talk every single day, not essentially collaborate on the choice, however collaborate on the alternatives and the issues which might be there on both facet of the coin. On the finish of the day, he does an awesome job making choices, we belief our resolution, and we do talk every single day about the place we expect issues are and we go from there.”

The writing was seemingly on the wall for Walker as he didn’t play within the Celtics ultimate preseason recreation on Tuesday in opposition to the Raptors, however individuals had been holding out hope that he may nonetheless discover his manner on to the roster. Nonetheless, the Celtics determined to waive him, leaving the fifteenth roster spot open.

The Celtics primarily save $11 million by waiving Walker as that’s how a lot Boston must pay in the event that they signed him to a veteran minimal contract. The Celtics presently have a tax multiplier of $3.75 for each $1 they spend over the wage cap. In the event that they signed Walker, the multiplier can be pushed to $4.25 for each $1 and a veteran minimal contract of about $2.1 million would have about an additional $8.8 million in taxes added to it.

Personally, I really feel just like the Celtics ought to have signed Walker. He’s a confirmed position participant within the NBA and has had success contributing to a playoff staff up to now. The Celtics may carry him up in some unspecified time in the future in the course of the season if he decides to hitch the Maine Celtics, however it nonetheless would have been good to have him on the staff now. Boston is already spending 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} on participant salaries this season so you’ll assume it wouldn’t be an issue in the event that they added slightly extra for Walker, however I assume Celtics possession didn’t see it that manner.

Lonnie Walker is an excellent participant on this league and it might not shock me if he indicators with one other staff shortly after being waived by the Celtics. If he does be a part of Maine nonetheless, he can be becoming a member of a fairly stacked staff and may very well be the face of among the finest G League groups on paper.

Hopefully, we are able to see Lonnie Walker in Boston once more in some unspecified time in the future this season climate as a member of the Celtics or for one more staff. Both manner, I hope he will get one other shot to indicate what he can do.