Lonnie Walker IV
Lonnie Walker is coming off quite an up-and-down season for the Los Angeles Lakers. He saw the highs of highs this year, which included salvaging the Lakers’ season in Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals, but then also saw the lows of lows, which entailed falling out of the team’s rotation entirely at certain points in the season.
In summary, it’s going to make for quite a confusing free-agent market for Walker heading into the offseason. And perhaps that ends up helping the Lakers’ chances of re-signing him. However, he’s also a player that the Jazz should look to take a gamble on. He’s young (24 years old) and has proven that he could be a dynamic offensive player if given the opportunity.
If the Jazz believe he can develop into a difference-making player down the line, they should absolutely throw a three- or four-year deal at him and force him to decline it. I have a hard time believing that’s something the Lakers would want to sign him to with the uncertainty that revolves around LeBron James’ future.
The Jazz will have plenty of options to make big splashes during the offseason, but the low-risk, high-reward free-agency moves are not something they should completely ignore this summer.
