Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has had a rough situation to work with to start the 2023-24 season as he has had a fully healthy for just one game: in the home opener on Oct. 25 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since then, Vaughn has had to get creative with his rotations after losing starters Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton to injuries.
To make matters worse, Vaughn may have more injuries to deal with after guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Dennis Smith Jr. went down in Monday’s 133-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets. In spite of all that, Vaughn was able to make things work against the Hornets in part because of the play of guard Lonnie Walker IV.
Walker had 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists against Charlotte as he showed that he can be a potent force for the Nets on offense and solid on defense. Walker has been ready to produce despite surprisingly not playing in the season opener against the Cavaliers.
With everything that Brooklyn has gone through so early in this season, Vaughn made sure to acknowledge Walker for what he has done to help the Nets get their first win of the campaign:
“We end up starting Lonnie (Walker IV) in the second half and it just goes a long ways when you go to a guy like I did before the season and told him he was a part of the rotation, that I wasn’t going to trim it to nine (players), that I wanted him to get a feel of who we are, how he was playing, get to know him some and then, I don’t play him (in) the first game. For him to still have the commitment to the team, to… stay with us. To me, that speaks to who he is, how we can build with him, and he’s shown the ability that he can produce.”
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