Lonnie Walker IV did not play a minute in Denver’s 133-128 preseason win over Chicago on Sunday. On Monday the Nuggets waived him.
The sequence tells the whole story. Walker played nine minutes in Denver’s preseason opener, scoring three points with three rebounds and two assists on 1-of-4 shooting. He got eight minutes in the second game and scored one point. Then a healthy scratch, then a release.
The Roster Math Pushed Him Out
Denver is carrying two-way players Ryan Nembhard, Cam Whitmore and Bryce Hopkins, plus Alpha Diallo. Those names are the squeeze.
Whitmore is worth noting on his own. He was part of the 2023 rookie-scale extension class, one of 23 players eligible this cycle, and he was waived before any extension conversation could happen. He landed in Denver on a two-way.
The result is that the Nuggets will open the regular season with an open roster spot, which is unusual for a contender and useful for flexibility. Teams that keep a spot open can absorb a midseason buyout signing without having to cut someone with guaranteed money.
Walker Has Options
He was productive in EuroLeague last season and could return overseas. One outlet reported that he opted out of a Maccabi Tel Aviv contract to attempt an NBA comeback, though that detail has not been independently confirmed.
Walker has had this kind of year before. He has bounced between San Antonio, the Lakers, Brooklyn and Boston, had a strong stretch in a Lakers playoff run, and has never stuck anywhere long enough to become a fixture. He is a scorer who gets signed for scoring and then gets cut when the roster math turns.
Denver did not release his contract terms, and the team’s exact roster count was not stated.
The Week This Is Happening In
These moves are landing in a specific window. October 17 is the last day a team can waive a player on a non-guaranteed deal and owe none of his salary. October 19 at 4 p.m. Central is the hard cutdown to 15 standard contracts and three two-ways.
Every team in the league is running this arithmetic right now, which is why the transaction wire is busy with names most fans do not recognize. Toronto signed 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp and waived guard Chucky Hepburn on the same day. Golden State waived Miles Kelly days after he scored 24 in a preseason game.
Walker is the most accomplished NBA player cut this week. He will not be the last.
What It Says About Denver
Not much, honestly, and that is the point. A contender choosing a two-way developmental guard over a veteran wing scorer is a sign of confidence in the top of the roster rather than a crisis in the middle of it.
The Nuggets open the season October 20. They will do it one player short, on purpose.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.