Lakers: Did L.A. Bring Lonnie Walker IV Back From Injury Too Early?

Will the Lakers swingman be healthy in time for the regular season opener?

Los Angeles Lakers swingman Lonnie Walker IV, added via the team's $6.5 million mid-level exception this summer, has enjoyed a pretty solid preseason thus far. He was one of the few Lakers who had gotten rolling on offense last night, in a 118-113 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In an interesting move, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had opted to start 6'4" wing out of the University of Miami at small forward and 6'1" Patrick Beverley at Walker's more natural position, shooting guard, to form a fairly undersized starting perimeter rotation last night.

In just 18:34 minutes, Walker was L.A.'s third-leading scorer last night, although that's not saying a ton. He had a fairly modest 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor (he also went 1-of-3 from deep), plus three rebounds and an assist. 

Unfortunately, Walker did not depart the contest unscathed. In the third quarter, he bumped into Beverley on a defensive miscommunication in the paint, and had to gingerly hop to the team locker room afterward, per Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. He appeared to re-injure the left ankle that had been bugging him in recent weeks and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the night by the Lakers, Turner adds. The injury was later deemed to be a sprain.

Mike Trudell of Lakers.com reports that Ham indicated Walker's left ankle sprain was mild, and suggested he would be reassessed this morning. A source informed Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the ankle was not swelling and Walker was not in "overt pain," which would suggest that the injury was indeed minor.

The ankle injury kept Walker somewhat limited during L.A.'s training camp this season. He first suited up for the Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves last Thursday (the team's third preseason game), having missed the team's preseason opener.

So the question must be asked: Was Lonnie Walker brought back too soon? Did L.A. just really want to see what he looked like out there, as an athletic slasher with a bit of a three-point touch and some defensive upside? When available for Los Angeles, he has looked good. But these six preseason games are ultimately just meaningless exhibitions. Was ensuring Walker appeared in some of them worth this risk?

Los Angeles will close out its preseason on Friday against the Sacramento Kings. It would behoove the team to sit Walker just to be on the safe side.