April 07, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Lonnie Walker IV returned to the NBA from Lithuania and has been a pleasant surprise for the Sixers down the stretch of the season.
We all know the drill by now: the Sixers entered a game severely undermanned against a superior team, had a surprisingly competitive performance for much of a game thanks in large part to a Quentin Grimes three-point shooting heater, but ultimately found themselves taking another loss that bolsters their tanking efforts as a top-six protected first-round pick continues to hang in the balance.
Now, let's fill in the blanks: on Monday night the Sixers faced the Heat in Miami without 10 of the 20 players on their makeshift roster, including the five highest-paid players in the organization. Despite a valiant effort which kept them within arm's reach for the majority of the contest — led by a barrage of baskets in the second half from Grimes — the Sixers never truly appeared on the verge of winning. The Heat escaped with a win, and the Sixers have now lost a dozen games in a row, with a real chance of ending the season on a 15-game skid.
Here is what stood out from the latest in a long line of Sixers losses, a 117-105 defeat in Miami:
Walker continues to be far better than expected for the Sixers, even though his scoring and shooting have been perfectly fine since arriving in Philadelphia. Walker's ability to create shots for others has been the biggest pleasant surprise of his handful of games with the Sixers; the Reading, PA native has become incredibly skilled when it comes to creating a driving lane for himself, attracting the attention of the back-line defender and dropping it off to a big for an easy rim finish.
Walker, who returned to the starting lineup on Monday, said last week in New York that his few months playing in Lithuania helped him grow as a passer.
"It was the first time I really had a lot of control as far as bringing the basketball up, running plays, doing pick-and-roll," Walker said. "...Making the instinctual, .5 [-second] decision or deciding where to pass it and knowing where you players are, it's definitely something that I improved on."
Most importantly, though, Walker's three-point volume and pull-up shooting skill have flashed heavily for a Sixers team desperate for offensive creation. With the Sixers' offense mostly rudderless in Miami, he was the one keeping them afloat, largely creating for himself. The Sixers likely would have been getting blown out even before intermission had it not been for Walker's excellent scoring run:
.@lonniewalker_4 makin' it rain in MIA. pic.twitter.com/VA7mrqR0dn
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 7, 2025
Walker scored 16 points in the first half alone, doing so on just nine shot attempts. His ability to seamlessly flow into an off-the-dribble jumper has done wonders for a Sixers offense just aiming to finish as many possessions as possible with reasonable shot attempts. He finished the game with season-highs in points (29) and three-pointers (six).
As the Sixers begin to ponder about a decision on Walker's player option for next season projected to be worth about $2.9 million, he is creating a pretty strong case to be brought back. Of course, the most important question: how can Walker's skillset be applied to a version of the Sixers that includes players like Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Jared McCain?
With Justin Edwards (rib) and Guerschon Yabusele (personal) out for the Sixers on Monday, Bagley — who impressed Nurse and Yabusele, among others, with a high-effort showing in his return to the team on Saturday — ended up receiving the first starting nod of his NBA career. Before and after the Sixers fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves after Bagley inked his second 10-day contract, Nurse spoke positively about Bagley's rebounding ability and presented a rosy outlook for the 23-year-old forward.
"First of all, I'm really happy for him," Nurse said. "I think he earned it. We could've done some other things and we had some other players — we actually did look at one or two other guys in the last couple days. But how did he earn it? He just played really hard all his minutes. He probably would say this too, I don't think he's played great, but his effort's been great. He’s really worked hard on defense. He's on the glass, he's playing physical, he's trying to guard."
Bagley's rebounding continued to stand out, as he grabbed three offensive rebounds off the bench against Minnesota. He was rewarded with the start in place of Edwards, a show of faith that he is not just a healthy body around to pass the time, but someone with a genuine chance of becoming an NBA player. The next step is developing a reliable jumper.
“If he can show [perimeter ability], which he started to with the [Delaware Blue Coats] a little bit,” Nurse said on Saturday, “then all of a sudden you're thinking, 'Okay, now you’ve got a guy who can rebound maybe above his height or position a little bit and now he can provide you with a little bit of offense.’ Then you’ve got to start taking a little more serious look at him."
In addition to throwing down an alley-oop slam in the half-court after finding a lane to cut, Bagley had a few plays in which his knack for finding the ball was on display — not just on the glass, but on 50/50 balls and on the defensive end of the floor:
Marcus putting in work on both ends of the floor. 😤 pic.twitter.com/KIIWnXgP9p
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 7, 2025
Bagley will be with the Sixers for the remainder of the season. If he does enough to impress, perhaps he can earn a two-way contract for next season. An invitation to Summer League being extended to him feels like a solid bet at this point.
Some more notes and takeaways from this one:
• The Sixers activated Jalen Hood-Schifino and Alex Reese for Monday's game, while Jeff Dowtin Jr. once again did not dress. Dowtin has not suited up since March 26, with only two remaining games of eligibility left. It made sense for him to sit out with Kyle Lowry active in Miami, but now only three games are left in the season and Dowtin, Hood-Schifino and Reese all have two games of availability remaining. Each player will need to sit out one time.
• Speaking of Lowry, the 39-year-old knocked down a floater in the second quarter on Monday. It represented his first made shot from inside the arc since Feb. 5, in a game also played against the Heat. It only took 61 days for him to get back on the board from two-point range.
• Ricky Council IV only played two minutes and change vs. Minnesota on Saturday, the only available player who was not part of Nurse's regular rotation. He ended up returning to the mix early in the second quarter on Monday and had an okay stint which included a circus and-one finish despite taking a hit to the face. Council's stock is at an all-time low at this point, even though parts of his overall package remain extremely intriguing.
Up next: The Sixers will play their final road game of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, when they face the Washington Wizards in the greatest threat to their tanking efforts remaining on the schedule.
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