Lonnie Walker is no longer a free agent shooting guard after agreeing to a two-year, $3 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, his agent George S. Langberg of the GSL Sports Group told ESPN. Walker, 26, last played for the Boston Celtics and the Lithuanian Basketball League’s BC Zalgiris. He’s expected to enter his seventh NBA season after attending training for the Celtics in October 2024. Read on for the latest.
Lonnie Walker’s NBA Career
Lonnie Walker’s NBA career spans seven seasons. Walker was selected with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft out of Miami (Florida). The 6-foot-5, 204-lb guard reportedly passed on other scholarship offers from Arizona, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Villanova. He made his college basketball debut with the Miami Hurricanes on November 10, 2017, with 10 points and a season-high five assists off the bench in a 77-45 blowout win over Gardner-Webb University.
Walker was named a McDonald’s All-American and voted Mr. Pennsylvania Basketball during his senior year at Reading Senior High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. He averaged a career-best 18.4 points per game and surpassed Reading High graduate and former NBA forward Donyell Marshall’s high school record with 1,828 total points scored. He led Reading High to their first state championship in their 117-year history in a 64-60 win over Pine-Richmond High School based in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.
Walker’s Stats
ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed Lonnie Walker’s agreement with the Philadelphia 76ers in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. Charania wrote, “Lonnie Walker IV has agreed to a two-year, $3 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group told ESPN. Walker has played for Zalgiris Kaunas in the Euroleague and had an NBA out in his deal. He now enters his 7th NBA season.”
Charania’s post attracted ample attention, as one user wrote, “Was one of the best players on our [Brooklyn] Nets last year, Jacque Vaughn ruined him, didn’t let him shine. Another user wrote, “Good pickup, but does nothing for Philly [Philadelphia].” Regardless of one’s thoughts on Walker’s agreement with the 76ers, there’s a chance that everybody can agree that he deserves a second chance in the NBA.
A source told NBC Sports Philadelphia that Walker’s contract will be for the rest of this season with a team option next season. Walker has averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 42.2% from the field and 35.6% from downtown in 322 NBA games. He can succeed with the 76ers, a team lacking healthy shot creators and guards since Jared McCain suffered a season-ending left lateral meniscus tear.
Final Thoughts
Lonnie Walker appears to be part of the Philadelphia 76ers’ short-term plans amid various injuries and a No. 22 offensive rating. Walker can give the 76ers additional athleticism and a scoring punch. These are two things that could help a struggling 76ers team in the middle of one of the NBA’s most disappointing seasons. They sit in a tie with the Brooklyn Nets for 11th place in the Eastern Conference at the time of writing.
The 76ers will return to their home court to host the Boston Celtics on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. They’re 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in picture and 8.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons for the sixth guaranteed playoff spot. They’ll likely get Joel Embiid back, but Embiid has been a bit off his best game and they can struggle to face a red-hot Celtics side.
