The Boston Celtics are signing free-agent guard Lonnie Walker IV to an Exhibit 10 contract, his agent, George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group, told The Athletic’s Shams Charania on Wednesday.
Boston Celtics guard Lonnie Walker IV will likely play for the Maine Celtics, the team’s NBA G League affiliate
An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year deal that allows an NBA team to give a bonus to a player if he is waived after training camp, and he goes on to play for the team’s G League affiliate.
The Maine Celtics are Boston’s G League affiliate. In fact, the team debuted in the 2009-10 season as the Maine Red Claws. The Maine Celtics are based in Portland and have won three division titles (2015-17).
Walker, 25, posted a career-best player efficiency rating of 13.1 and averaged a true shooting percentage of 54.5% with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2023-24 season.
Contract details for Lonnie Walker IV with the Celtics, sources said: Exhibit 10. An E10 allows Celtics to give a bonus to Walker if he is waived after training camp and plays for the team’s G League affiliate in Maine.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 29, 2024
According to the Basketball-Reference database, Walker averaged a career-high 3-point attempt rate of 55.1%. His usage percentage (24.4%) was a career best as well.
In 58 games off the bench with the Nets last season, he averaged 9.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 17.4 minutes per contest while shooting 42.3% from the field, 38.4% from beyond the arc, and 76.3% at the free throw line.
Walker made a career-high six 3-pointers in a loss against the Philadelphia 76ers last season
Furthermore, in Brooklyn’s 121-99 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 19, 2023, he recorded a season-high 26 points on 9-of-17 (52.9%) shooting from the floor and a career-best six made 3-pointers.
Last season, then-Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn praised Walker for his patience with the coaching staff.
“I wanted him to get a feel of who we are, how he was playing, get to know him some,” Vaughn said. “Then, I don’t play him [in] the first game. For him to still have the commitment to the team, to… stay with us. To me, that speaks to who he is, how we can build with him. He’s shown the ability that he can produce.”
Walker spent the first four years (2018-22) of his career with the San Antonio Spurs after being selected with the 18th overall pick in 2018. The 6-foot-4 guard spent one season (2022-23) with the Los Angeles Lakers before signing a one-year, $2 million contract with Brooklyn.
He now joins a Celtics squad returning most of its roster from last season’s championship team. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis are all back.
If Walker makes the team, he will likely play in the second unit.
