Lonnie Walker IV didn’t survive the Celtics‘ final cuts, but the decision to part with him clearly wasn’t an easy one, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. Walker faced long odds to earn a roster spot with an organization operating under the second apron, and his teammates were impressed by his effort during his time in Boston.
“I love Lonnie,” Luke Kornet said. “He’s a great player, honestly. His energy and his joy and passion and connection just he mainly possesses I think was awesome. I never had the opportunity to know him closely until these past few weeks, and he’s been great to have around and honestly a joy to play with and a joy to work with.”
Walker appeared in four preseason games, averaging 7.3 points, 2.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds, and gave the Celtics a look at how he fits with the rest of the roster in case they consider bringing him back later. Terada notes that the price for keeping the 25-year-old free agent would have been around $10MM with tax penalties figured in, so management opted for the flexibility of having an open roster spot.
“He’s had a great approach,” coach Joe Mazzulla told Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “A guy that’s been around the league a long time and has seen different environments. Came in with his head down and just wanted to work and wanted to have an understanding of what it’s like, what it is to play our style of basketball on both ends of the floor. I thought he did a good job of executing that in the time that he had. I thought he did a great job being patient and executing the role we needed him to. And I thought he did a good job in the film room trying to get to the understanding of our system on both ends of the floor.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Jordan Walsh is looking for an expanded role in his second NBA season, Himmelsbach adds in a separate story. Walsh has noticed more trust from his teammates since training camp began. “Trying to gain the respect of my teammates definitely boosted my confidence a lot more,” he said. “Now [Payton Pritchard] is passing it to me a little bit more, [Jayson Tatum] is giving me advice, passing to me a little more. So all those things made me feel like I’m really a part of this team and I can help. Those guys believe it, and I believe it.”
- Sam Hauser doesn’t want Baylor Scheierman to get discouraged by a rough preseason, Terada states in another MassLive story. The first-round pick shot just 16.7% from the field and 17.6% from three-point range while averaging 3.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per night. “Those five games were his first NBA experience,” Hauser said. “It’s hard to really have expectations on anybody in that situation. That’s a tough spot to be in. I’m sure for himself he has high expectations. I try to remember my first preseason — I don’t think I played that well. So I keep trying to tell him to stay aggressive, keep shooting.”
- Two more potential buyers for the Celtics have emerged, according to Michael Silverman and Shelly Leung of The Boston Globe. Robert Hale, who’s already a limited partner in the team, said he has “keen interest” in becoming majority owner, and Mark Bezos, founding partner of HighPost Capital private equity group and half-brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is considering a bid as well, a source tells the authors.