Celtics Sign Lonnie Walker IV to Exhibit 10 Deal

Bobby Krivitsky | Aug 28, 2024

Apr 1, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV (8) shoots the ball while Indiana Pacers guard Kendall Brown (10) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Fifteen of the 17 players who helped the Celtics capture Banner 18 will be there to see it raised to the TD Garden rafters before Boston's opening night rivalry clash against the Knicks to kick off the 2024-25 NBA season.

The reigning champions also have room to sign one more player to a standard contract. Even after agreeing to a one-year pact with Lonnie Walker IV, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, that remains the case.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Boston's signing him to an Exhibit 10 deal. That allows the Celtics to give Walker a bonus if he is waived after training camp and plays for their G League affiliate in Maine.

In Paris, at the Olympics, the Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, "We're just going to monitor the health of our team and see how everybody's doing, and if there's any issues that arise between now and September that we need to really address, then we might use it."

"But right now, I'd say it's unlikely. We're still looking to sign a couple of Exhibit 10s that their most likely path will be to play in Maine. But we'll see."

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

After several double-digit scoring performances off the Lakers' bench in the 2023 playoffs, helping Los Angeles reach the Western Conference Finals, Walker joined the Nets for the 2023-24 campaign.

In Brooklyn, the six-foot-four guard averaged 9.7 points and knocked down 38.4 percent of the 4.7 threes he hoisted in 17.4 minutes of floor time across 58 games. He'll have to adjust to a role in Boston's "Stay Ready Group, a.k.a their extended rotation, but neither the six-year veteran nor the team would've agreed to this if either party didn't believe he was up for it.

While the Celtics have a defensive bulldog in Jaden Springer and Baylor Scheierman, their sharpshooting first-round pick in their extended rotation, vying for larger roles, if Walker parlays this opportunity into a standard contract, he'll add more firepower to the second unit.

His addition may also prove bad news for the possibility of Oshae Brissett returning. It's a prospect he recently said on his vlog, BrissyTV, that he hadn't ruled out. He also called his year in Boston "the best season of my career," not only due to becoming an NBA champion but because "I grew so much as a player" while "practicing every single day with Hall of Famers."

Boston Celtics on SI recently explored Brissett's best options in free agency, including him potentially finding a home with another title contender if he doesn't rejoin the reigning champions for their upcoming title defense.

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