The Spurs Shouldn't Give a Contract Extension to Lonnie Walker IV

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/san-antonio-spurs-lonnie-walker-iv-contract-extension/

I'm hoping he has a big season ............ but, yeah, I'm not sold on him enough to back the idea of the Spurs giving him a contract extension.

[slick'81]

Man dude went from our future after the rockets game to this💩

[Mugen]

Agreed - as a Walker fan, would love to see Lonnie on a different team next season tbh.

[rjv]

absolutely agree. i've been hopeful that lonnie has his break-out season three years in a row now so i think it's just best we wait it out and see if he's peaked or finally gets over the hump.

[cd98]

Vassell is the real potential star and they need to save money to sign him to an extension.

[spurraider21]

seemed somewhat obvious imo

[weebo]

y'all need to see walker play live...you really get an appreciation how bad he is as an NBA player

[exstatic]

y'all need to see walker play live...you really get an appreciation how bad he is as an NBA player

I can see it on TV. He’s like a lesser version of Ben McLemore, and his best outcome would be lead bench scorer at this point.

[FutureMan]

Not saying Walker is worth a ton of money but who is even out there that would be better? I can only think of Ayton and Boucher.

[TD 21]

Not even worth considering. He's been a replacement level player to this point, they're already extended two sub star guards, Primo already looks more promising and the projected top 5-10 pick could easily yield the best prospect guard since or pre Parker.

Even if he proves to be a solid bench player this season, he's not breaking the bank either way at this point and there's nothing wrong with re-assessing at that point.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

*sniff*sniff*

[timvp]

Looks like no extension for Walker. Shamet and Grayson Allen got right around that $10 million per season. Huerter got ~$16 million but he's also a lot better than LWIV. So, yeah, the Spurs likely would have had to give him $10+ million in an extension and were right not to do so, IMO.

That said, hopefully he plays really well this season and the Spurs have to give him Huerter money in the offseason.

[Jsmythe]

Kyle Anderson was way better than Lonnie Walker IV and he didn't get an extension, so I don't see any reason why Lonnie would get one.

I feel like Lonnie will turn out to be a draft bust, although looking back at the 2018 draft, there wasn't anyone too great that could have been picked instead (Kevin Huerter and Grayson Allen are better, but not good enough to regret missing out on them like Jokic for example). And at least Lonnie showed flashes of potential (the Houston game) unlike Samanic who barely got to play at all. He still has a chance to turn things around but I'm not expecting him to do so this year.

[Chomag]

He has all of the tools to be an amazing stand out player but from what he has shown is not the heart to back that up.

[KingKev]

If we can get back to finding guys like Jonathon Simmons at the local YMCA no need to pay Walker. The same fools on this board who think Primo is baby Kobe were calling Walker the next D Wade. Time for LWIV to show out. We can’t keep handing out 15mm a year contracts to every nice guy. Even Keldon better earn his payday this season. Not extending Walker is Brian Wright’s first good decision as a GM.

[KobesAchilles]

I can see why we took him. He has everything you want in a prospect. He has extreme athleticism. He has a deadly first step. He has midrange and a 3 ball. These are the types of players fans have been screaming for years to take. And yet he has no toughness, heart, or smarts. Hard pass

[BackHome]

So we lost Luka and now probably loose another first rounder after this season - Is it the coach it is it the GM?

[exstatic]

So we lost Luka and now probably loose another first rounder after this season - Is it the coach it is it the GM?

Lonnie will have an NBA career, his pride may just not allow it to be here. Others we have drafted didn’t cut it here, but still played hundreds of NBA games. Mahinmi, Hill, CoJo, Kyle, none of them went beyond their rookie deals here. Sometimes a player is NBA caliber, but is a poor fit, or redundant. Doesn’t mean it was a bad pick. You go for BPA, always, or at least the Spurs do. Can’t believe dumbshits like you are still all about this. If you look at a graph of first round pick positions, and the win shares produced, there is a BIG bump out from 28-30. That’s us. Our end of round pick out produce a lot of teams lottery picks.

[Ditty]

Sounds like on his Instagram he’s disappointed he didn’t get an extension. I hope he stays. Outside of Primo and Vassell he probably has the highest ceiling. Would love him to be a huge scoring threat off the bench. Unfortunately I just don’t think it’s going to work out. I hope majority of us are wrong though.

[playbonner15]

y'all need to see walker play live...you really get an appreciation how bad he is as an NBA player

damn...

[TimDunkem]

I don't see the potential everyone sees, and wouldn't be sad to see him go. He can jump and sometimes score, but that's about it. Undersized bench scorer at best, imho.

[8FOR!3]

If he has a big season, we RFA him and decide to match/make an offer from there. If not I think you've got to move on. We'll have the cap space to wait and decide. I think it's the right move to not sign him right now.

[weebo]

damn...

you can literally see the frustration on the faces of the other players on the court....murray specifically is constantly telling walker where to be on D during time outs...demar did so also..walker is an athletic freak and a smart guy ....he just doesn't have that feel for the game

[Slippy]

you can literally see the frustration on the faces of the other players on the court....murray specifically is constantly telling walker where to be on D during time outs...demar did so also..walker is an athletic freak and a smart guy ....he just doesn't have that feel for the game

Demar shouldnt be dishing out advice since he cant lead by example on that side of the ball. You couldnt of missed it. Can we call it defense? I saw it as a ballerina act that was always off balance or too late. In fact i thought he was the most useless spurs on D where as Lonnie was always engaged 1 on 1.. its was his team defense that was lacking.

In any case im glad to see Lonnie gets to prove his worth. Its make or break this season. Coach pop has to back him though..With Rudy, Patty and Demar gone . Theres a scoring void to be filled.

[D-Robinson 50 fan]

you can literally see the frustration on the faces of the other players on the court....murray specifically is constantly telling walker where to be on D during time outs...demar did so also..walker is an athletic freak and a smart guy ....he just doesn't have that feel for the game

i agree about his basketball IQ being low and you couple that with his constant uncertainty and you have the player we’ve seen so far.

hopefully he doesn’t wilt due to not getting the extension though. He should go out there and show why he deserves to be paid what he and his agent think he deserves.

I truly hope he plays great this season and earns a big new contract because it will only mean good things for our Spurs.

[weebo]

Demar shouldnt be dishing out advice since he cant lead by example on that side of the ball. You couldnt of missed it. Can we call it defense? I saw it as a ballerina act that was always off balance or too late. In fact i thought he was the most useless spurs on D where as Lonnie was always engaged 1 on 1.. its was his team defense that was lacking.

In any case im glad to see Lonnie gets to prove his worth. Its make or break this season. Coach pop has to back him though..With Rudy, Patty and Demar gone . Theres a scoring void to be filled.

demar would coach him up on offense...where to be ..how to space the floor...etc...its pretty obvious to everyone demar wasn't some defensive stalwart just assumed everyone agreed

[GAustex]

DDR was smart enough and athletic enough to be a good defender
He just did not try
Defense was beneath him

[cjw]

He’s not good enough to hamper cap space next summer. He’s not going to reach starter criteria (42 games or 2,000 minutes? Think I saw that in Bagley news) and they can always pull the QO if they need to use cap space.

If no better use of the cap space, they can always work out a deal with him, match an offer, or S&T him if keeping bird rights.

[OldMan88]

It may seem like an odd take, but I think that unique hair style he had when he joined the team hurt his development. It made him too easy to spot on the court so the opposition could key on the highly touted (at the time) rookie player. DJM cut his hair off and he not as easy to pick out now as he was as a rookie. Derrick White is easy to spot. As fast as the NBA game moves, if you can identify an opposing player out of the corner of your eye by some highly obvious physical characteristic, it gives an advantage to the opposition player responsible for picking that player up to defend. It’s easy to pick Shaquille O’Neil out of a crowd, but the current NBA team with a bunch of 6’5 - 6’9” skinny black swing men running down the court at breakneck speed, anything that is an obvious visual clue makes the defense players jobs easier.

[tim_duncan_fan]

He still won't attack the basket.

He can jump about as high into the atmosphere as Jeff Bezos got in his airplane and yet he has 0 dunks in traffic in his 3-year career.

He's screwing himself with his fear of contact and general lack of aggression. He won't even be Jonathon Simmons if he doesn't stop being so scary.

He also can't rebound. *shrugs*

[4lifecowboy]

I believe he was mishandled from the start he has never been treated as the player with the highest ceiling of the young guys. I can almost guarantee he will be a better player under a different coach. Pop overcoaching made him timid, instead of incouraging his unique style he killed it, like he tried to do with Manu. As good as Manu was, he could have been more if Pop hadn't overcoached him.

[John B]

I believe he was mishandled from the start he has never been treated as the player with the highest ceiling of the young guys. I can almost guarantee he will be a better player under a different coach. Pop overcoaching made him timid, instead of incouraging his unique style he killed it, like he tried to do with Manu. As good as Manu was, he could have been more if Pop hadn't overcoached him.

You had me until Manu. Manu coming off the bench was a genius move, the beat didn’t stop with the subs, while the other team pulled their starters, and helped the Spurs a championship team for years. So that part I don’t agree with you. But yes, it’s arguable that overcoaching got Lonnie overthinking out there, too scared to ball and make mistakes. But he has the season to prove himself. With what I know about Coach Pop, he played the Vets to earn their next contracts. Lonnie is a good kid, I don’t think he’s lazy and a good person in the community. I’m sure Pop would give him chance to earn hus next contract. I suspect he would explode this year with AT&T fans cheering him on.

[Texas_Ranger]

Other than Keldon, there is no one that deserves an extension on this team.

[4lifecowboy]

Other than Keldon, there is no one that deserves an extension on this team.

What has Keldon done? So far his skills aren't near superstar level. His high energy drive his his biggest asset thus far. Primo, IMO is our best chance to find a legit go to guy, the rest are all tradable for the right pieces.

[Seventyniner]

Clearly the FO didn't think Walker had shown enough to get an extension, whether at all or the level Walker and his agent were looking for. Glad he has a chance to prove what he's worth this season, put up or shut up time.

[james evans]

So we lost Luka and now probably loose another first rounder after this season - Is it the coach it is it the GM?
the coach IS the GM. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise

[james evans]

I just got a good feeling about Walker. I wouldn't give up on him. You've got to realize he spend his whole career playing behind Defrozen and on top of that, he's now playing for a coach with dementia who probably doesn't even remember he's on the bench after taking him out the game.