Lonnie Walker IV Nets.

[Ignazzz]

Did You see lonnie’s stats in Nets? Good staff & high % eFG. More 3s. Pure Gold.

[scott]

Leading the league in 20+ point games off the bench, I believe. If he ends up in 6MOTY contention, that will be something. Very happy for him though, great dude.

[Slippy]

He been balling . . Spark off the bench or as starter doing very well.

Damn shame spurs let him go .

[ismael-robert]

I called it since year 4 we were gonna regret not giving him more time

[Gibbz]

Happy for him--he was done here.

[RC_Drunkford]

Did You see lonnie’s stats in Nets? Good staff & high % eFG. More 3s. Pure Gold.

everybody knew he just needed a new coach. Pop destroyed his confidence early.

[timtonymanu]

I think Mugen called this about Lonnie.

[Obstructed_View]

Does he play defense now?

[spursparker9]

Derrick White, D Murray, Lonnie all blossoming after leaving Poop

[exstatic]

And he still couldn’t defend a mannequin. That’s why he was non-extended. He actually showed some shooting promise.

OMG, one of our former near lottery picks is now a passable bench player on another team. The horror.

[exstatic]

Derrick White, D Murray, Lonnie all blossoming after leaving Poop

There’s a reason we got a haul of picks for the first two. They didn’t suck here, and there’s no reason to think they would suck anywhere else. HasDeJounte made another AS team? Because he did under Pop.

[CGD]

Good for him. I expect Blake Wesley may end up having a similar meandering road through the NBA after not being extended the Spurs next year.

[JeffDuncan]

And he still couldn’t defend a mannequin. That’s why he was non-extended. He actually showed some shooting promise.
…


They let Lonnie go because in his last season with the Spurs his 3pt shooting dropped to .314 on 5 attempts per game. You’ve got it exactly wrong about his shooting. He regressed.

[JeffDuncan]

Good for him. I expect Blake Wesley may end up having a similar meandering road through the NBA after not being extended the Spurs next year.


If the Spurs don’t extend Wesley he’ll be done as an NBA player. He hasn’t shown anything that any other team would want.

[The Truth #6]

LW wasn't kept by the Lakers, either, right? Who knows. He may be more comfortable being near home where he grew up.

[onechance87]

Good for him. I expect Blake Wesley may end up having a similar meandering road through the NBA after not being extended the Spurs next year.

wesley may be done....we are goona have to draft a pg and maybe go after a vet pg....Wesley hasint really
shown nothing....Doesnt shoot well,Doesnt make plays....Plays decent d,Thats about it

[onechance87]

wesley may be done....we are goona have to draft a pg and maybe go after a vet pg in free agency....Wesley hasint really
shown nothing....Doesnt shoot well,Doesnt make plays....Plays decent d,Thats about it

[The Truth #6]

Wesley can't finish at the rim. It's so bad it's fascinating. Maybe he needs to talk to the team psychologist.

[Obstructed_View]

Derrick White, D Murray, Lonnie all blossoming after leaving Poop
Blossoming implies improvement. Has Dejounte improved?

[Jordan Jackson]

It’s simple. He’s comfortable with no expectations. There are none in Brooklyn from anyone.

[poopbox]

What is this "the spurs let lonnie go" revisionist history? His agent straight up told the spurs to not pick up his QO and then 5 seconds into free agency he left for the lakers :lol

Won a playoff game for the lakers and now is a main contributor on a nets team that might make the playoffs. Not bad for a player Pop tried to kyle anderson :lol

If only we had a guard who could come off the bench and give us instant offense.

[BacktoBasics]

Derrick White, D Murray, Lonnie all blossoming after leaving Poop

This is a bit disingenuous. I think he's play today is a direct result of the years he spent here patiently being developed.

[rjv]

this team wouldn't be any better if lonnie was still a spur

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

this team wouldn't be any better if lonnie was still a spur

That's the bottom line.

And with Murray we'd and/or White we'd of wallowed in 30-35 win seasons, at best. Probably wouldn't have Wemby now.

Time to look forward and complain about moves the FO isn't currently making! :lol

[Kevin]

Also happy for Lonnie but he's shooting unsustainably well from 3 at 47% for the season.

[spurraider21]

He’s miles better than branham. Not even a comparison

[rjv]

He’s miles better than branham. Not even a comparison

not defensively

[TekXX]

Why do former Spurs flourish under a different head coach?

[spurraider21]

not defensively
True. They’re pretty equally bad there. At least lonnie is athletic enough to luck into passing lanes here and there

[Mugen]

Why do former Spurs flourish under a different head coach?

Shocking, ain't it? :lol

[NASpurs]

Pop would've had him playing center right now

[CGD]

Why do former Spurs flourish under a different head coach?

Who do you have in mind in recent memory?

- Lonnie was done here.
- White and DJ (who spurs got mega value for) were done here
- Rudy Gay and LMA were done everywhere.
- Jakob and DDR have not been better since leaving San Antonio.
- Cojo was not better after leaving here
- Bonner, Tiago, Diaw, Parker, Mills, all done after leaving Spurs for other teams.

[GAustex]

Has Anderson stepped up?

[ambchang]

This time last year Lonnie was putting up grata numbers with the lakers. ESPN even ran a piece throwing shade at pop stifling Lonnie’s play. Then the season went on, law of averages set it and it was like it never happened.

So far this year, no talk of how the lakers were stifling Lonnie’s growth. But people are still going back to blaming pop.

[exstatic]

He’s miles better than branham. Not even a comparison

Year two Lonnie was miles behind year two Malaki.

[spurraider21]

Year two Lonnie was miles behind year two Malaki.
No lol

year 2 Malaki isnt an nba player

[John B]

Same people bashing Lonnie before and praising him now.

[spurraider21]

Same people bashing Lonnie before and praising him now.
I didn’t have much issue with letting him go but he’s clearly an nba player. The rebuilding spurs didn’t really need to give a new contract to a bench scorer who seemed at or near his ceiling.

[Cabrito]

Why do folks find it so hard to believe that a person can continue to improve at 24 years old? Teams give up on players and they become productive elsewhere all the time. The Spurs made a living on those type of players for 20 years. Good for Lonnie that he is improving. Although there was no guarantee he would being a shooter and not a defender or pick and roll guy.

[exstatic]

Why do folks find it so hard to believe that a person can continue to improve at 24 years old? Teams give up on players and they become productive elsewhere all the time. The Spurs made a living on those type of players for 20 years. Good for Lonnie that he is improving. Although there was no guarantee he would being a shooter and not a defender or pick and roll guy.

People here don’t even believe that Spurs players can improve at 20.

[ambchang]

Same people bashing Lonnie before and praising him now.

Because it has nothing to do with Lonnie.

[The Truth #6]

Pop was too hard on Lonnie. Pop isn't hard enough on players now. Pick a lane. People are swerving through traffic, drunk on hatred for Pop. Should we get a younger more motivated coach next year - yes. But so many bad faith actors it's hard to take any critique as reasonable or sincere.

[Chinook]

This time last year Lonnie was putting up grata numbers with the lakers. ESPN even ran a piece throwing shade at pop stifling Lonnie’s play. Then the season went on, law of averages set it and it was like it never happened.

So far this year, no talk of how the lakers were stifling Lonnie’s growth. But people are still going back to blaming pop.

Lonnie was better as a Laker than he was in any year with the Spurs. Dude won't be scoring like this all year. My hope is that his assists go up a bit too. But it's progress. Dude's just 25. If he can keep building on these last two seasons, he might have a long career yet.

[Chinook]

Pop was too hard on Lonnie. Pop isn't hard enough on players now. Pick a lane. People are swerving through traffic, drunk on hatred for Pop. Should we get a younger more motivated coach next year - yes. But so many bad faith actors it's hard to take any critique as reasonable or sincere.

That's like saying, "You complained that I beat my first kid. I let my second kid do whatever he wants. Pick a lane." You can coach guys without picking on them. Fuck you can even coach them without disciplining them. I'm not hugely invested in the idea of blaming the Spurs for Walker's issues even though I was and still am a big fan of his. I think he just wasn't ready. Pop didn't coach him optimally, but it took Lonnie too long to start showing real sustainable progress. Ideally, he would've been playing like this in year three or four rather than year six. I talked about the risk the Spurs are running drafting a bunch of raw guys in another thread.

Anyway, I don't want Pop to coach like he coached Walker or Green. I want a reason to believe that he's giving instruction to the players, including calling set plays. I want to see them look more prepared to common NBA actions and miss fewer rotations. I want Pop to give a chance to players all over the roster to play when the guys above them drop the ball. None of that requires Pop to be fiery or to cuss players out. He simply needs to coach, and he's not doing that.

[scott]

Lonnie is one of those dudes who I hope becomes an All-Star and I still won’t be mad that we parted ways. It was time to move on, but he’s an awesome human, still does things for the San Antonio community, and I wish him nothing but all the success in the world. He may not have been everything we hoped for on the court, but he’s definitely “Spurs material” as far as his character goes, and he did deliver one of the greatest offensive outbursts a Spur has ever had in that game versus the Rockets.

[Obstructed_View]

Lonnie is one of those dudes who I hope becomes an All-Star and I still won’t be mad that we parted ways. It was time to move on, but he’s an awesome human, still does things for the San Antonio community, and I wish him nothing but all the success in the world. He may not have been everything we hoped for on the court, but he’s definitely “Spurs material” as far as his character goes, and he did deliver one of the greatest offensive outbursts a Spur has ever had in that game versus the Rockets.
Well said. Lonnie seems like a great young man and I always check the box scores to see how he is doing and I root for him wherever he goes. All that said, I don't regret letting him go. If he turns into Michael Jordan someday I'll just be happy for him.

[ambchang]

Lonnie was better as a Laker than he was in any year with the Spurs. Dude won't be scoring like this all year. My hope is that his assists go up a bit too. But it's progress. Dude's just 25. If he can keep building on these last two seasons, he might have a long career yet.

Per 36, his efficiency went up. Assists and rebounds went down. Points about the same. All it’s saying is because he had a lesser role on offence and was asked to do nothing but shoot. I fail to see how he was better as a laker.

Btw, I’m rooting for him, I like him as a person (well based on what I can see on tv) and thinks he’s got immense physical gifts. If he can just know the game and learn it he could be real good. He’s like a nice guy version of a JR smith if you will.

[The Truth #6]

That's like saying, "You complained that I beat my first kid. I let my second kid do whatever he wants. Pick a lane." You can coach guys without picking on them. Fuck you can even coach them without disciplining them. I'm not hugely invested in the idea of blaming the Spurs for Walker's issues even though I was and still am a big fan of his. I think he just wasn't ready. Pop didn't coach him optimally, but it took Lonnie too long to start showing real sustainable progress. Ideally, he would've been playing like this in year three or four rather than year six. I talked about the risk the Spurs are running drafting a bunch of raw guys in another thread.

Anyway, I don't want Pop to coach like he coached Walker or Green. I want a reason to believe that he's giving instruction to the players, including calling set plays. I want to see them look more prepared to common NBA actions and miss fewer rotations. I want Pop to give a chance to players all over the roster to play when the guys above them drop the ball. None of that requires Pop to be fiery or to cuss players out. He simply needs to coach, and he's not doing that.

I think you may be responding to something I didn't intend to imply. My comment is a reaction to the overdramatized flip-flopping critique of the coach. Not an endorsement of poor coaching. People change over time, and I think the coach is using a more humanistic approach now which probably seems appropriate given the situation. Now as far as what role he has different players playing in, that is a much different issue to me.

[Kevin]

Really hope Lonnie plays well enough to get a multi-year pay day as long as the Spurs aren't the one's paying him. He's shooting the lights out from three right now and is due for a huge regression. We'll see how the season is going after he cools off from three point land.

He's Bryn Forbes with better defense but a less trustworthy three ball.

[Chinook]

I think you may be responding to something I didn't intend to imply. My comment is a reaction to the overdramatized flip-flopping critique of the coach. Not an endorsement of poor coaching. People change over time, and I think the coach is using a more humanistic approach now which probably seems appropriate given the situation. Now as far as what role he has different players playing in, that is a much different issue to me.

I do think Pop has changed for a lot of reasons, and some of the changes he has made are good. However, I also think he needs to show results that players are listening to him. He shouldn't have to yell or bully anyone to coach. I think it's perfectly valid to criticize him for being too hard years ago and ineffective now. I do think some folks look for arguments to justify their emotions, which is why they can start piling on certain players (like obsessing over Sochan and ignoring that he's been playing better and better as the season has progressed even though he hasn't been a PG), or in this case, using Pop's light hand as a self-evident reason to criticize him. But I also think most of the folks who are the strongest anti-Pop posters didn't' care about Lonnie or Green or even Parker and didn't actually criticize Pop too much for his treatment of them at the time.

There are certain types of posters who have a more antagonistic fandom of the Spurs. Their primary means of engaging with the team is through criticism. I don't actually think it's a bad thing, as it adds texture to the discussions. I think they might be out of their element now that the team is not good and has deep problems. Rather than just adding resistance to keep ST from being like Reddit, they contribute to a vortex of despair opening up.

I think a lot of fans should probably tune the Spurs out for a while rather than getting too invested in the day-to-day suckage. They can look at highlights to see the ups of Victor's rookie year while avoiding the sea of lowlights. Durant had two horrible years before they started turning it around. They had a bad coach when he started and swapped him out for a base-hit coach that was good enough to see them reach their peak.

The reality is that there's nothing to panic over. This year looks like it'll suck, but the team will get a new lotto pick and will likely move on from the Sochan experiment sooner than later. Wembanyama will be fine, both in terms of his on-court play and his off-court attitude. It's easy to skip over time when you're only looking at a process from a distance. But when you're closely following a rebuilding team, you get stuff like this. That doesn't mean Pop's doing a good job -- I don't think he is. I just don't think it's going to matter in a couple of years if he did a good job now or not. The Spurs are likely going to suck for an appreciable portion of our remaining time on this planet. That sucks, but this too shall pass.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Why do former Spurs flourish under a different head coach?

Not really true.

[CGD]

Has Anderson stepped up?

Was we that much worse as a Spur? I think he’s pretty much the same player honestly

[TD 21]

I fully expect him to come crashing back down to earth, but since leaving here, he's at least went from replacement to rotation player.

Like White and Murray, he magically figured out how to alter his shot profile and shoot at least respectably too . . . Branham will probably follow suit once he's gone.

[gilmor2002]

I fully expect him to come crashing back down to earth, but since leaving here, he's at least went from replacement to rotation player.

Like White and Murray, he magically figured out how to alter his shot profile and shoot at least respectably too . . . Branham will probably follow suit once he's gone.

Actually the only person who has any success is White; Lonnie is not a success as he was rejected by the Lakers; I don't see Nets progressing any further this year in the playoffs.

[heyheymymy]

I'm sure it helps to play on a team with Dinwiddie, Bridges and Johnson drawing the defensive focus. Lonnie can just come in and shoot open looks. The role is completely different in BKN and is more suitable to Lonnie's game, limitations and abilities.

As a smaller market, Spurs can't afford to have Lonnie just be a shooter without contributing elsewhere too and don't have the talent elsewhere to mask his shortcomings into a net positive player or draw/create open looks for his nice percentages.

[ismael-robert]

A bad team doesn't mean the player hasn't improved and is now successful.
Far as Kyle goes last I saw him he finally got over his shooting hesitation and was an effective and aggressive shooter which is what would frustrate Pop

[blizz]

And he still couldn’t defend a mannequin. That’s why he was non-extended. He actually showed some shooting promise.

OMG, one of our former near lottery picks is now a passable bench player on another team. The horror.

Riiiiiiight like we have a team of lock down defenders and he was the weakest link so THAT is why we let him go. Do you actually know anything about basketball or do you just pretend?

[Obstructed_View]

Riiiiiiight like we have a team of lock down defenders and he was the weakest link so THAT is why we let him go. Do you actually know anything about basketball or do you just pretend?
When he played for the Spurs he was literally the worst defender in the league. Do you actually know anything about basketball or do you just pretend?

[exstatic]

Riiiiiiight like we have a team of lock down defenders and he was the weakest link so THAT is why we let him go. Do you actually know anything about basketball or do you just pretend?

White - plus defender
DJ - All Defense
Poeltl - plus defender

These are the players that were on the roster when Lonnie got here. What our defense is now is immaterial to him no longer being here.

[CGD]

Lonnie was awful on D, which stemmed from some pretty bad bbiq. For any impressive things he may have done on offense, he gave it all back (and then some) on the other end. You just can’t play those guys long stretches.

[Obstructed_View]

White - plus defender
DJ - All Defense
Poeltl - plus defender

These are the players that were on the roster when Lonnie got here. What our defense is now is immaterial to him no longer being here.
Lonnie was worse than Demar. At defense. Something Demar doesn't do.