Sixers bringing Lonnie Walker back to the league:

Lonnie Walker was destined to be a Sixer. Pennsylvania kid. Five-star recruit from Reading High School. He’s still only 26 years old and it wasn’t that long ago that he was giving the Spurs and Lakers 10 points off the bench, and sometimes as a starter.

The reason he went to Europe in the first place is because he was more or less a cap casualty. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics, who then had to waive him to get under the luxury tax threshold. From there, it was probably better to go play legitimate minutes and make legitimate money in Europe, vs. wasting your time in the NBA’s minor leagues. Eventually someone would bring him back and that’s what the Sixers are doing now.

According to Basketball Reference, Walker played 19 games for Zalgiris at 22.3 minutes per. He averaged 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists shooting 38.7% from the field. Not Earth-shattering, but also just a year removed from a Brooklyn season in which he gave the Nets 9.7 points off the bench while playing about 17 minutes a night. His best NBA seasons were when he straddled the 6th man line with the Lakers and Spurs, shooting about 43%. He’s 6’4″, good wingspan, a younger and probably better option in a revamped frontcourt that now includes Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler. Walker can still play, so bringing him in on this kind of deal to see what he has makes a ton of sense. Who knows, maybe the Sixers screw around here and get our hopes up again before crashing out of the playoffs in demoralizing fashion.