The bitter reality of Lonnie Walker IV’s breakout season hurts Lakers fans
By Jason Reed
There have not been a lot of positives about the Los Angeles Lakers this season. The Lakers are off to a painfully slow 3-10 start that will likely keep the team from doing anything drastic to change the makeup of the roster. This is the same disappointing team we will get all season.
Luckily, there are reinforcements on the way that could help the Lakers start to turn the season around but it has to happen quickly. If things don’t improve here soon, it could become a lost season before the start of the 2023 calendar year.
One of the very few positives for Los Angeles this season has been Lonnie Walker IV. Signed with the Taxpayer’s MLE after he was let go by the San Antonio Spurs, Walker has blossomed with strong play this season.
The 23-year-old former first-round pick is averaging 16.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 31.1 minutes per game. He is shooting 47.2% from the field and has improved in his three-point shooting, hitting those at a 35.7% clip. In every practical sense, this has been a career year for Walker.
Lonnie Walker IV’s career year has its downside for the Lakers, though.
While it has been great to see Walker blossom in Los Angeles and be one of the only bright spots, there is also the glass-half-empty side of the coin that is hard to forget as a Lakers fan. Walker playing so well this season is only increasing his value. As a 23-year-old player, he is going to be worth far more than the MLE if he keeps playing like this.
This is the exact same thing that happened with Malik Monk. His breakout was great to watch as a Lakers fan but it ultimately did not mean anything. Los Angeles still missed the playoffs and had to watch Monk get priced out.
Luckily, the Lakers have a lot more financial flexibility with Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley coming off of the books after this season. That being said, this front office has pinched pennies in the past and could absolutely let Walker walk away because they don’t want to pay his new market price.
If the team had a component front office that knew what it was doing and would pay valuable players what they deserve (looking at you, Alex Caruso) it would be one thing. Instead, this is a front office that tries paying Dennis Schroder $84 million before overpaying Talen Horton-Tucker only to trade him for the corpse of Beverley.
Obviously, the Lakers need Walker to continue this level of play if the team is going to have any chance of actually being competitive this season. We just have to hope as fans that they give him what he earned after the season and don’t try to lowball another promising young talent.