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- The San Antonio Spurs are moving on from young shooting guard Lonnie Walker.
- After initially offering Walker a qualifying offer, San Antonio rescinded the offer Thursday afternoon.
- Walker now becomes an unrestricted free agent, and Spurs fans are split on their feelings about the move.
The San Antonio Spurs are going to look much, much different when the 2022-23 NBA season starts.
San Antonio made headlines on Wednesday when it traded rising star point guard Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks for veteran forward Danilo Gallinari and a slew of draft picks.
They’ve since waved Gallinari, making him a free agent.
But the Spurs weren’t done. On Thursday afternoon, San Antonio rescinded its qualifying offer to young shooting guard Lonnie Walker, making him an unrestricted free agent.
The Spurs are pulling the qualifying offer on Lonnie Walker IV, making him an unrestricted free agent, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Expect a strong market for Walker immediately.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2022
Walker has been solid, if unspectacular, since San Antonio drafted him with the No. 18 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. This past year he averaged a career-high 12.1 points per game off the bench, but shot just 31.4 percent from deep, the lowest of his career.
San Antonio now opens up even more cap space and gives itself more flexibility as the Spurs appear headed for a rebuild But fans weren’t sure how to feel about the move.
Some felt Walker could still blossom into a useful NBA player.
Lonnie Walker is gonna sign somewhere else and end up having the best year of his career so far lol https://t.co/cA3PWu2jDo
— A-aron Isaac (@AaronMac445) June 30, 2022
It was fun Lonnie.
If he can tighten up his mentals of the game, he can be a force off the bench for a lot of teams. https://t.co/IGuLKsGMll
— Eric Salinas (@EricSal_7) June 30, 2022
Damn we losing Lonnie too? https://t.co/cHaT4uUogQ pic.twitter.com/LXAXF4EGBo
— No Cam Gawd (@CerealSensei) June 30, 2022
But others weren’t quite as heartbroken.
Moving from Lonnie Walker was the best thing for the Spurs. Lonnnie is gonna be a great role player in the nba but never an allstar of superstar. He’s not consistent and doesn’t have that dog in him.
— PJ Hoops (@RealPjHoops) June 30, 2022
lonnie walker can’t shoot, can’t defend, and doesn’t pass. if that’s who celtics fans want so badly i advise you just take a look at jd davisons film lol
— biased genius (@tafraud) June 30, 2022
Walker’s market is unclear. He’s still just 23 years old and has the type of length and athleticism and general manages across the league covet. But he’s not progress the way the Spurs had hoped and could just as easily be out of the league in a few years.
Either way, Spurs fans appear to be in for some new horizons in the coming years.