Could the Nets remain Lonnie Walker IV’s home next season?
The Brooklyn Nets are moving forward with the next era of their franchise as they have hired former Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez to be the head coach going into next season. Now that Brooklyn has taken care of who will be leading the team for the foreseeable future, the organization has to figure out who will play for the team as well.
In a recent episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Brian Lewis of the New York Post discussed many topics involving the Nets’ offseason. One of those topics was the status of unrestricted free-agent guard Lonnie Walker IV.
Walker, 25, came to Brooklyn last offseason on a one-year, $2.3 million minimum contract, something that was surprising at the time given how well he played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-23 season. Walker had a solid season for the Nets this past season as he averaged 9.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 42.3% from the field and 38.4% from three-point land.
Scotto noted on the podcast that Walker is “looking for a home,” referencing comments that Walker made following a loss at the Philadelphia 76ers in the season finale on Apr. 14.
Walker played well in the last few games of the season as the Nets prioritized the playing time of some of the younger players or lesser-used players due to being eliminated from the postseason along with injuries to some of the rotation players.
Lewis said that Walker is “a question mark” for him given that he feels that Walker played well enough this past season to have earned a raise that could price himself out of Brooklyn. Lewis did the door open for Walker coming back to the Nets since Brooklyn could “break up a part of an exception” to give Walker more money in an attempt to retain him.
Ultimately, whether Walker comes back to Brooklyn may be more up to whether finds himself a better opportunity at playing time while getting paid at the same time. Given how valuable Walker is scoring the ball of the bench, the Nets would likely be happy to welcome him back to Brooklyn for training camp.