Lonnie Walker

Despite a couple of standout moments last season, Walker still finished well outside the top 200 in standard leagues. To this point, his career has been underwhelming, to say the least. Although he has averaged double-digit points in three of his five seasons, he does nothing on the defensive end and rarely contributes in the assist column. Now residing in Brooklyn, Walker will once again assume a backup role. Given he has not been on the radar when afforded 20-plus minutes per night, there is no reason to think anything will change moving forward.

Over four years in San Antonio, Walker started only 56 of 208 games. Despite the Spurs entering into a rebuild, they failed to pursue re-signing Walker with any aggression. The guard now takes his talents to a Laker squad desperate for young talent. The 23-year-old still has room for upside and is battling Austin Reaves, Patrick Beverley and Troy Brown for minutes at shooting guard. Reaves finished the season strong for LA and seems like the early leader for the spot. Brown is more of a small forward, but the Lakers have more options at that position. A concern for Walker is that his three-point shooting has declined each of the past two seasons. After draining a promising 40.6 percent of his three-pointers in 2019-20, Walker shot an ugly 31.4 percent from behind the arc last season. Of course, some easy catch-and-shoots from LeBron should help. Expect the Lakers to tinker with lineups throughout the season. And should King James and AD suffer more injuries, opportunities will abound for gunners like Walker.

With Derrick White out for the start last year, Walker was thrust into a starting role with the Spurs to begin the season. After seeing just 16.2 minutes per game in the previous year, the high-flying guard saw his workload jump up to 25.4 minutes last season. Walker played decent in his new role, posting figures of 11.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last year. This was the most aggressive version of Walker we'd seen yet, as his 10.2 field goal attempts per game were nearly double his average from the previous season. However, in games where Derrick White was back starting, Walker saw his role drop down to 20.5 minutes per game. Entering this season, the Spurs are shaping up to be a much different team due to the departure of DeMar DeRozan. Dejounte Murray and Derrick White are looking healthy and ready to be the starters in the backcourt, which leaves Walker fighting for minutes as a reserve. The Miami product is a part of a fairly deep backcourt with the emerging second-year-pro Devin Vassell as well as the return of Bryn Forbes to San Antonio. For now, it seems like Walker has the backup shooting guard spot on lock, but with a healthy team entering this season, it will be interesting to see how the 22-year-old's minutes will be affected. Walker has proved to be a capable scorer when given the minutes, as his scoring average jumped to 17.9 points per game when he saw 30-39 minutes last year. However, the question is if that type of playing time will be available to him this year. Walker has improved each season he has been in the league, and it won't be surprising to see him continue that trend, but with a more crowded and healthy backcourt, it is tough to imagine a true breakout fantasy season as he enters his fourth season.

After missing much of his rookie campaign due to injury, Walker had a solid sophomore campaign. He began to pick things up in mid-December, and during his final 45 appearances (12 starts), he averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 19.1 minutes. He saw significant run in the NBA bubble, averaging 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 27.6 minutes, showing off a little more upside. For 2020-21, Walker could make for an interesting flier in deeper leagues. To be fantasy-relevant in standard leagues, he'll likely need to consistently see 30-plus minutes, which might be tough given the current context of the roster, especially with DeMar DeRozan still in the fold. If DeRozan gets moved, there will be more of a reason to roster Walker, but that may not happen until mid-season. As it stands, Walker is mostly best suited to dynasty formats.

Walker's rookie season certainly did not go as planned, as the former University of Miami standout tore his meniscus in the preseason, which put his NBA development on hold for a couple of months. Walker spent a large portion of the season playing for the Austin Spurs in the G League and only appeared in 17 NBA games. Encouragingly, Walker was impressive in his 29 G League appearances, averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 35.8 percent from behind the arc. While Walker showed off his capabilities as a scorer, his all-around game is still a work in progress, and it's unclear how many minutes will be available for him. With Derrick White and Bryn Forbes both coming off solid 2018-19 campaigns, Dejounte Murray returning from a torn ACL and the Spurs signing DeMarre Carroll this offseason, the team has quality depth in the backcourt and on the wing, leaving Walker potentially on the outside looking in to start next season.

Walker took to the hardwood for just one collegiate season with Miami (FL). In 32 games (18 starts), he posted averages of 11.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals across 27.8 minutes. He also added shooting percentages of 41.5 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from deep. Those numbers didn't necessarily scream first-round draft pick, but Walker's upside still resulted in him being selected by the Spurs 18th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. His measurables are excellent for his position. Walker stands 6-foot-5 and has a 6-foot-10 wingspan, which should give him a chance to exceed defensively against opposing shooting guards and even small forwards. He's also got a 40-inch vertical and a solid looking shot, which means he could turn into a 3-and-D type of wing eventually. At this point, the 19-year-old is likely just a developmental project for coach Gregg Popovich and he'll be stuck behind newly added DeMar DeRozan on the wing. He'll likely be brought along slowly and isn't going to be drafted in many standard leagues. That said, Walker will definitely be a potential target in dynasty and keeper leagues, as he's joining an excellent organization that knows how to develop talent and clearly has the tools to become a contributor in the NBA.