Last week, the Celtics and Lonnie Walker IV agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal. That means the 25-year-old guard will come to training camp competing for a standard contract and Boston’s 15th and final roster spot.
For a player of his caliber to remain on the free-agent market until late August before settling for an Exhibit 10 deal is a testament to the current collective bargaining agreement going too far in how punitive it is.
Walker’s coming off a campaign where he averaged 9.7 points and knocked down 38.4 percent of the 4.7 threes he hoisted in 17.4 minutes of playing time across 58 games with the Nets.
The season before, he delivered several double-digit scoring performances off the Lakers’ bench in the 2023 playoffs, helping Los Angeles reach the Western Conference Finals.
Like Walker joining the Celtics as the summer ends and Kelly Oubre signing with the 76ers late last offseason, adding impactful players who would’ve already found a team under the previous CBA as training camp nears will remain the norm under the new one.
That poses a threat to the job security of individuals like Jordan Walsh. Moving on from him after a rookie year mostly spent helping Maine reach the G League finals seems premature and unlikely. However, if Boston converts Walker’s contract and later finds itself in a scenario where it wants to add a player to address losing someone to injury, for example, Walsh could be the odd man out.
The 38th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft is under contract for $1.9 million for the upcoming campaign. When teams sign veterans with at least three years of experience in the Association, they only count against the salary cap and a team’s bank balance for $2.1 million, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience.
While the Celtics are over the second apron and every dollar matters, the financial incentive of choosing Walsh over players that will routinely be available to sign veteran minimum contracts late in the offseason under the current CBA won’t do much to help his case in a battle for a roster spot.
The former Arkansas Razorback carries a $2.2 million cap hit for the 2025-26 campaign and a $2.4 million team option for the following year.
The 20-year-old wing offers plenty of upside, but time moves fast, and chances quickly slip away in the NBA. While this author cautions against putting too much stock in Walsh’s Summer League struggles, which offered valuable lessons that can help him going forward, his second season as a pro could dictate his future with the reigning champions.
The six-foot-seven wing must convert more of his potential into production in another year where it’s likely that he’ll primarily play in the G League.
Walsh has much to prove, including at the defensive end of the floor, where he’s still working to become the menacing defender he was in college. But offensively, it was encouraging that as Summer League wound down, he returned to what he was most comfortable with at Arkansas, attacking off the dribble to produce points for himself and his teammates.
It’s paramount that Walsh improves as a spot-up shooter from beyond the arc, but he left Las Vegas with a better understanding of how to find his rhythm and the mentality he needs to have to operate at his best.
“I guess that’s kind of what slumped me in the beginning, just kind of going in with that mentality, not going in with the right mentality of, ‘I got to go in and play as hard as I can, the result’s the result,'” said Walsh at Summer League. “Now, I’m trying to switch to that and let that be the main goal and see how it goes.”
That’s a valuable tool to help Walsh showcase his talent and further prove himself as he fights for his NBA goals and his place with the Celtics.
