Walton fired by Lakers; Kings make offer (merged)

Will Luke Walton Be The Next Head Coach Of The Sacramento Kings?


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#31
Here's an interesting video breaking down some of what the Lakers ran when he had a team closer to what the Kings have now.


This is a lot of the same stuff Joerger runs. Well, what he attempted to run most of the time due to him not having the personnel or confidence in his best players. One positive difference is the spacing is much better. Joerger typically liked to stack two bigs closer together which allows teams to play the gap. Obviously Walton borrowed a lot from Kerrs playbook.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#36
There’s a place somewhere that resides between “awesome” and “inevitable” so I went with awesome.

Probably more along the lines of “Yes, and I’m cautiously optimistic”
There are really too many shades of nuance of the "yes" option to fit into one poll. Kings fans have as many ways to describe the inevitability of Walton becoming the next head coach as Eskimos have words for snow.
 
#37
I really like the idea of Luke taking over.

• He’s younger and more of a chill person than Joerger, so he’ll mesh better with our young core.

• He also got the Lakers to 35 wins in 2017-18 with a weaker roster than the one we had this year.

• Likes to play fast-paced.

• Has experience as an assistant in Golden State.
He seemed to have all sorts of issues in Laker land including plenty of heated exchanges with players refs etc. Not sure he's "chill"
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#38
He seemed to have all sorts of issues in Laker land including plenty of heated exchanges with players refs etc. Not sure he's "chill"
I was in the process of typing maybe heated exchanges are actually needed from time to time instead of holding it in and being a passive aggressive jerk, then I remembered the Buddy incident. Lol... idk, we’ll see.

Vlade needs to be right here. That’s the only absolute in the whole situation.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#40
If we get Bill on the telecast and Christie as an assistant coach sign me up. Bill is awesome. Grant/bill and Jerry....bestill me heart
If the Kings were to pair Walton with Grant, I would never listen to another king's telecast again. I literally can't stand to listen to the nonsense that comes out of his mouth. And I doubt that Grant would tolerate either. Every college game this year, where Walton was the color announcer, I turned off the sound.
 
#41
If you could always predict future results in a new situation based on historical results in different situations, picking the right coach would be easy. It's obviously not, judging by the turnover every year. We would have to be in the interview room and hear the candidates's visions for the team to know what Vlade is basing his decision on.
 
#43
Ugh why? Are people seriously going to give him credit for the time he interned for the Warriors?? A freaking rock could've coached that team and they still would've won the same amount of games.
Sure but what about his 1st year with the lakers? Ive seen nothing that suggests he is a poor coach
 
#44
Interesting that so many are giddy over the idea of Walton becoming the next HC. Not saying they’re right or wrong, because I don’t know. But it’s interesting from the perspective that Walton is still an unknown. He isn’t a sure thing or accomplished like Pop or Spoelstra. Nobody knows how good or bad a HC he really is. I mean, does anybody really know if he’s even on par with DJ? I sure don’t.

It sounds like most are excited because he seems to run an uptempo offense. Well, so did DJ this past season. Again, not saying it’ll be a wrong move should it happen but I just can’t share in the enthusiasm because it seems like a complete crapshoot to me.

Having said that, I wonder if Klay Thompson or Julius Randle would like to play for him again? <tongue-in-cheek comment> :p
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#47
Interesting that so many are giddy over the idea of Walton becoming the next HC. Not saying they’re right or wrong, because I don’t know. But it’s interesting from the perspective that Walton is still an unknown.
I don't quite get the excitement, myself. (Or, the doom-and-gloom from a buddy over text.) Walton really hasn't done much with his Lakers squads, and he's 25 games under .500 for his career in only three years.

Sure, when Kerr was out he coached the '15-'16 Warriors to a 39-4 start, but that team went on to set the record with a 73-9 record (so basically, the same record with Walton as with Kerr) and wasn't exactly a team in desperate need of coaching.

I'm not sure what else he has done to warrant enthusiasm. Randle actually developed pretty nicely under him and I think you have to be pretty satisfied with the results from Kuzma, but he didn't seem to bring the best out of D'Angelo, or Ingram, or Lonzo (though the latter two have had serious injury issues).

But it sure looks like we're going to get a chance to find out what all the fuss is about.
 
#49
I get that some of us want to look at other fan boards for opinions, and I think that consensus carries some weight. If it were tiered I’d say we should place weight as such:

Most important - former players

Second - former coaching colleagues (especially if those colleagues are some of the most level headed and successful people in league history)

Third - fans/“experts”

As of now everything I’m seeing from players is glowing.
“They did everything right, I’ll say that.”
-Josh Hart
“He has a lot of great tendencies for a young coach that some coaches probably don’t develop their entire life...he was fun, he was a heck of a coach to play for...”
-Rondo

From Kerr
“One of the best human beings in the NBA. They’re losing a guy who knows the game as well as anybody I’ve ever met. They’re losing a guy who players believe in, players want to play for.”

With honest respect, I’m going to go with these insider perspectives over anybody here. I feel like many of you are incredibly knowledgeable, and I’m so grateful to bounce ideas off of you. Gotta go with Kerr and the players opinions here tho.
 
#50
Hoopshype reports Vlade has asked San Antonio permission to interview Messina as well. I don't believe that can happen until after their playoff run.

I hope we just lock up Walton asap. I recon Vlade knew he would be available, making parting with DJ a no brainer.
 
#51
I don't quite get the excitement, myself. (Or, the doom-and-gloom from a buddy over text.) Walton really hasn't done much with his Lakers squads, and he's 25 games under .500 for his career in only three years.

Sure, when Kerr was out he coached the '15-'16 Warriors to a 39-4 start, but that team went on to set the record with a 73-9 record (so basically, the same record with Walton as with Kerr) and wasn't exactly a team in desperate need of coaching.

I'm not sure what else he has done to warrant enthusiasm. Randle actually developed pretty nicely under him and I think you have to be pretty satisfied with the results from Kuzma, but he didn't seem to bring the best out of D'Angelo, or Ingram, or Lonzo (though the latter two have had serious injury issues).

But it sure looks like we're going to get a chance to find out what all the fuss is about.
I also don't know what to think about Walton and his coaching ability, but I think people are discounting what he did with the Warriors. They were absolutely dominating teams, setting a record for best start to a season. Sure, the Warriors were great, but the idea that a rock could have coached them (from a different poster) is hyperbole at its finest. The job that he did with the Warriors as an interim was impressive. The job he did with the Lakers in the first part of his first year was also impressive. What he has done since, not as impressive, but still not awful.

But here we are. I hope the decision works out.
 
#53
BTW, I don't really care if he's a character guy and well liked if he couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag. Just look at how Zubac and Randle have exploded once they left the Lakers. They weren't being used correctly.
 
#54
Such a predictable move by the Kings with Vivek's fingerprints all over it. Vlade can say what he wants being in control, but the one that signs the checks gets what he wants.

They probably fired DJ because everyone knew Walton was going to get fired/resign. Getting Walton will complete Vivek's long obsession with becoming a Warriors knockoff.
 
#55
Trading DJ for Walton would actually make sense and at the very least not be a downgrade in coaching talent. He's predictably got blamed for the absolute crapstorm in LA and absolute crap roster he was dealt this season. Not to mention Lonzo and Bron and Ingram missing a good chunk of the year. He embraces modern concepts and by all accounts is a really good players coach that connects well to his guys.

I'd be much, much, much more worried if we were keying in on a Mark Jackson or Monty Williams type. Messina and Walton (and thankfully it looks like) should be at the top of the list.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#56
BTW, I don't really care if he's a character guy and well liked if he couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag. Just look at how Zubac and Randle have exploded once they left the Lakers. They weren't being used correctly.
Randle was pretty damn good his last season with the Lakers which was what made Magic's decision to just let him walk even more puzzling.

Zubac had his moments this season and people were legitimately pissed when the Lakers offloaded him to open up time for Java and Chandler in the rotation. And also considering the perfect storm of Lebron getting his first significant injury in a decade and Magic/Pelinka pretty much giving a perfect example of how not to build a roster, it's hard to say much of anything that happened in LA is Walton's fault in particular.

I'm ambivalent either way but you seriously seem to be placing Joerger on a pedestal that quite frankly I'm not sure he deserves to be on.
 
#58
Randle was pretty damn good his last season with the Lakers which was what made Magic's decision to just let him walk even more puzzling.

Zubac had his moments this season and people were legitimately pissed when the Lakers offloaded him to open up time for Java and Chandler in the rotation. And also considering the perfect storm of Lebron getting his first significant injury in a decade and Magic/Pelinka pretty much giving a perfect example of how not to build a roster, it's hard to say much of anything that happened in LA is Walton's fault in particular.

I'm ambivalent either way but you seriously seem to be placing Joerger on a pedestal that quite frankly I'm not sure he deserves to be on.
Yeah it's hard to blame Luke when Randle was an absolute stud his final year with the Lakers and they just let him walk for nothing. And then only gave DLo 1 year with him before trading him for a late first round pick and cap space.

Zubac like you said was a total project that finally started showing signs this year. He was already taking minutes in the rotation from the other big guys before getting traded because "they wouldn't be able to pay him".
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#59
Interesting that so many are giddy over the idea of Walton becoming the next HC. Not saying they’re right or wrong, because I don’t know. But it’s interesting from the perspective that Walton is still an unknown. He isn’t a sure thing or accomplished like Pop or Spoelstra. Nobody knows how good or bad a HC he really is. I mean, does anybody really know if he’s even on par with DJ? I sure don’t.

It sounds like most are excited because he seems to run an uptempo offense. Well, so did DJ this past season. Again, not saying it’ll be a wrong move should it happen but I just can’t share in the enthusiasm because it seems like a complete crapshoot to me.

Having said that, I wonder if Klay Thompson or Julius Randle would like to play for him again? <tongue-in-cheek comment> :p
You know why I'm giddy? For the simple reason we will NOT be bored and this could well mean another smack in the face to the LA LeBrons. While some say it was no big deal for him to do so well with the Warriors, I think it showed that Walton's ego isn't so big that he tries to fix something that isn't broken. I suspect Luke will get along greatly with our kids. He's been around the best in the game all his life - he knows NBA players and the NBA life. He's not a stupid man.

And just think...we can get Bill to do a "Luke I am your father" ... or just use the clip from Star Wars as his intro.

I'm loving this possibility.
 
#60
They’ve had time to get over it

Luke was condemned since before the half way point of the season.
He was gone last summer when the drama king signed just like Blatt was as well.

Ugh why? Are people seriously going to give him credit for the time he interned for the Warriors?? A freaking rock could've coached that team and they still would've won the same amount of games.
The looked better under him than Kerr that year and Kerr gets credit like he’s some guru
 
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