Lonnie Walker IV hops in on the Nets’ road trip, set to return next week

Lonnie is about to be back in action after being inactive since late November.

© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Both Lonnie Walker IV and the Brooklyn Nets were disappointed upon knowing that their reunion needed more time to happen. As he was on the verge of a return from his hamstring rehab, Lonnie got sidelined yet again due to illness. From this, coach Jacque Vaughn pointed out that the guard will miss the remaining games of this week.

But on Friday, Vaughn announced positive news around Walker IV — confirming that Brooklyn's sixth man is with them on their road trip and is likely to see action sooner.

On track to be back

Speaking in front of reporters before their 110-104 defeat against the Washington Wizards, Vaughn revealed that Walker has joined their trip and may be back on the court as soon as Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

“It’s good to see him on the trip,” Vaughn said. “He did have a little bit of a workout after shootaround [Friday], which is good. So we’ll continue to see kind of how he responds.”

Brooklyn's Friday bout against the Wizards served as the 14th straight game that Lonnie has been inactive. The Nets will play the OKC Thunder up next on Sunday before facing the Pels, in which Walker IV could finally break his hiatus.

“I’m getting there. Still no timetable, but [Friday] was a very, very huge step forward as far as understanding how my physical aspect as far as movement and jumping and running, how I feel. I felt terrific is probably the best I felt and quite a long time,” Walker said.

Itching to finally land a return

In the last 14 games that Walker was out, the Nets went 6-8. It is evident that the team sorely missed his 14.6-point scoring punch off the bench.

Being one of the league's most productive sixth men, Lonnie can't wait to finally be back after over a month of absence.

“It pissed me off a lot, honestly. I was home, I was very upset, just because I want to play,” Walker IV added. “I want to play with my guys. I want to play my family, my teammates and win and get better. So on the bright side of things, just give me more time to kind of recover and make sure once I’m back 100 percent I can go as far as hard as I want to go.”

Jacque Vaughn gives the reasoning behind sitting most of his starters