Walton fired by Lakers; Kings make offer (merged)

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


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#91
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.

Wasn't D Angelo traded before Walton coached him?
 
#93
.. PLUS it's great that he's had a chance to get his feet wet with the Lakers already.

This only juices up the rivalry further and if we can keep beating them it's huge. The vision is real. We're on our way.
Love this part of the Luke argument.
It will help invest Luke here in Sactown and he now has a LOT to prove. He is the type where this will light a fire in his belly and he will enjoy whoopin pumpkins captaining an upstart kings team and throwing it in the face of the lakers each time we play them.
 
#94
Messina, or a hard nosed college coach. But by my nature I feel hardass coaches get the most out of talent

But then it’s a bit unappetizing to get a coach fresh off a stint that didn’t work out and is not generally perceived well by that fanbase forums
Not sure it works too well anymore in the pros. Thibodeau is the most hated coach in the league and flamed out hard in Minny is the posterboy
 
#95
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.
Pretty glowing endorsements. If Rondo is vouching for him you know its not B.S.
 
#97
Pretty glowing endorsements. If Rondo is vouching for him you know its not B.S.
Of course he is getting endorsements...But it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t get one in particular

I said it months ago. Luke was going to get booted and it didn’t matter if the Lakers made the playoffs (which I was sure they were going to at that time) or not. It has nothing to do with his ability. Having a coach in place before you sign LeBron the Coach Killer is like signing the coach before the GM. Same thing.

Speaking of hiring before the GM. In Luke Walton’s case. He was hired before the current official GM(He was hired by Kupchack and Jim Buss) and LeBron. He didn’t have a prayer of keeping his job
 
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#98
Wait you do know this is Lebron James we're talking about? You know the same one who would destroy a team's chemistry with his manipulative antics and then have the owner removed before he took on any of the blame?
Yes Lebron James. 15x allstar, 9 straight finals, 3 time WC. Same guy he was last offseason.

Honestly, I have no desire to defend Lebron or destroy Walton.

I'm just tired of my team making stupid decisions. (and in turn continuing on with over a decade of futility) I want my team to freaking win! But here I am, yet again, saying WTF are we doing.
 
I think Vlade’s plan all along was to hire Walton. Vlade knew LeBron was going to get Walton fired.

Walton was actually Vlade’s teammate the one year Vlade went back to the Lakers, so they have history together.

Another advantage of getting Walton would be we would have an inside track to 2 upper tier free agents this summer, Julius Randal and Brook Lopez, since he was their coach with the Lakers.

Brook Lopez would be the better fit as a stretch 5 to replace WCS and Bagley would start at PF.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
I think Vlade’s plan all along was to hire Walton. Vlade knew LeBron was going to get Walton fired.

Walton was actually Vlade’s teammate the one year Vlade went back to the Lakers, so they have history together.

Another play of getting Walton would be we would have an inside track to 2 upper tier free agents this summer, Julius Randal and Brook Lopez, since he was their coach with the Lakers.

Brook Lopez would be the better fit as a stretch 5 to replace WCS and Bagley would start at PF.
Bagley would gobble up all the rebounds Brook doesn’t.
 
There are reasons why we have sucked for 13+ years. It’s decisions like these. Replace a coach that won more games then any other in the last 13 years with a coach that couldn’t win with the Goat.
Except these are not the reasons we have sucked. These type of posts kill me. How about the fact that our front office struck out multiple times on high first round picks and the ones that did succeed, we surrounded them with John Salmon types? Mike Malone is the exception but at the same type we had that rat D’allssandro making the decisions. This is 100% different and you know it
 
I don't know about hiring Walton. I never thought he's a good coach or have proven to be one. What have he done really? He get some coaching wins in Golden State but that team is special....that team doesn't need coaching. In LA, i see a lot of isolation and one-on-one plays and no team concept. I see a guy that doesn't argue calls that much and just sit and chill. I don't now man....

I want a coach that get into a players ear if they did something wrong....to correct them sort of, pointing things out. I know nothing about his substitution patterns....his chess match....who need to be on the court against what the other team have out there. His team in LA doesn't play defense to me (which tells me he doesn't preach defense).

So, i don't know. What the Kings need is a coach that play chess more than anything. Sure, you need a coach that play up tempo. But that is something that require little teaching, just tell the players to run ....which i am sure Joeger have no problem changing his style of coaching. So whoever come in should have no problem letting these guys run and gun because they know that's what proven successful with DeAaron FOX's speed.

I think the assistant coach from San Antonio definitely might fit the bill as a strategy coach. Other than that, i know nothing about him. So is Monty Williams.
 
I don't know about hiring Walton. I never thought he's a good coach or have proven to be one. What have he done really? He get some coaching wins in Golden State but that team is special....that team doesn't need coaching. In LA, i see a lot of isolation and one-on-one plays and no team concept. I see a guy that doesn't argue calls that much and just sit and chill. I don't now man....

I want a coach that get into a players ear if they did something wrong....to correct them sort of, pointing things out. I know nothing about his substitution patterns....his chess match....who need to be on the court against what the other team have out there. His team in LA doesn't play defense to me (which tells me he doesn't preach defense).

So, i don't know. What the Kings need is a coach that play chess more than anything. Sure, you need a coach that play up tempo. But that is something that require little teaching, just tell the players to run ....which i am sure Joeger have no problem changing his style of coaching. So whoever come in should have no problem letting these guys run and gun because they know that's what proven successful with DeAaron FOX's speed.

I think the assistant coach from San Antonio definitely might fit the bill as a strategy coach. Other than that, i know nothing about him. So is Monty Williams.
Look, I think this whole players coach vs hard-assed coach is completely overplayed.

Some teams that are younger need a coach that can relate to them, communicate with them at a level they can understand, can command respect since they’ve recently played in the league before. Walton will do that, just like Kerr did.

There are other teams like the Spurs and Rockets filled with veterans that need someone that plays more of a tough CEO role.

At the same time, we will need strong assistants to support Walton (if indeed he is our guy) in developing the players and reinforcing the vision that he and Vlade share. Having a coach and GM on the same page will go a long way for us. That truly has been our biggest barrier.
 
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.
You just can't let it go, can you? Vivek this, Vivek that.
 
I'm curious how many free agents would rather play for Luke than Joerger. With no 1st round draft pick this year, we need to make Sac as an attractive destination as possible. I also love the fact he coached the Lakers and quite possible has a bone to pick with that organization.
I have it on good authority that all the top free agents want to come to Sacramento to play for Luke. ;)
 
Messina, or a hard nosed college coach. But by my nature I feel hardass coaches get the most out of talent

But then it’s a bit unappetizing to get a coach fresh off a stint that didn’t work out and is not generally perceived well by that fanbase forums
I’ve asked who has succeeded from the college selection and I get Brad Stevens. I agree but damn 1 coach in what 2 decades leave the college coaches in college.
 
Except these are not the reasons we have sucked. These type of posts kill me. How about the fact that our front office struck out multiple times on high first round picks and the ones that did succeed, we surrounded them with John Salmon types? Mike Malone is the exception but at the same type we had that rat D’allssandro making the decisions. This is 100% different and you know it
The poor decisions from this franchise are exactly why we have sucked. I'm not sure how you could argue it otherwise.

For instance, we decide on Leonard instead of Jimmer, or Steph instead of Reke, or Cj instead of Ben, or Lilard instead of Thompson we would be in a different place. Many of these choices were against general opinion. The strike outs on first rounds are generally bad decisions versus bad luck.

But I'm not talking just about drafts. I'm talking about coaching changes (Malone, Corbin, Natt, fire RA.). Trades (Webber, IT, Sauce, JJ Hickson), signings (Thompson, Thorton, Hill) And front office (Petey, firing Petrie, no exp Vlade (which is why we do not draft in June).)

Look, you have to do a lot wrong to have a run like we have had. This is not luck. I sit hear, writing this again (to my dismay), we are yet again making another potentially stupid decision. Firing a successful coach while considering hiring a young coach that underachieved. And yet, again, I say I hope I am wrong...but I havent been too far off over the last 13.

I do not want to spoil the optimism so I will bow out here.
 
I think Vlade’s plan all along was to hire Walton. Vlade knew LeBron was going to get Walton fired.

Walton was actually Vlade’s teammate the one year Vlade went back to the Lakers, so they have history together.

Another advantage of getting Walton would be we would have an inside track to 2 upper tier free agents this summer, Julius Randal and Brook Lopez, since he was their coach with the Lakers.

Brook Lopez would be the better fit as a stretch 5 to replace WCS and Bagley would start at PF.
I too think Vlade had this in mind all along.

For anyone interested in Barnes resigning at a decent price, he also has a history with Walton.
 
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.
I don’t pay much attention to his time at the Warriors. I do think what he did last yea with the Lakers was pretty impressive.

People forget but Lakers last season were the young up and coming team like the Kings were this season. Then Magic traded Russell, let Randle go and got a bunch of average vets at LeBron’s request.

Now is this season due to LeBron and the front office or was last year a case of team playing above themselves?! Russell and Randle went on to beast this season. Can’t say that Walton had nothing to do with it.
 
I realize they had the greatest regular season in history and could coach themselves or whatever but he did get 5 more wins and 1 less loss than Kerr did so theoretically he out-coached Kerr. And that stretch did include a huge Christmas day game against the Cavs.
But what were the circumstances? Was the schedule more difficult in the games Kerr coached? Were there any games missed by any of the core players?? It’s not as simple as just comparing the records of each.

Regardless, as I eluded to about Walton already, it can easily be argued that both coaches managed egos and personalities more than they really coached the team. We know they can both do that effectively.

Many fans forget that Kerr inherited a ready-made team too from Mark Jackson and we really don’t know how good a coach he is either. We just know he’s able to run a team like Phil Jackson did. But can he coach like Pop or Spoelstra when he doesn’t have the best talent? We don’t know. Walton is unknown too IMO.
 
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.
Walton didn’t draft those players. The GM did. Perhaps they weren’t great fits for Walton’s system? Perhaps they weren’t great fits with their teammates? Perhaps they took extra time to develop for various reason? There could be numerous other factors none of us are aware about.

In short, it just might not be as simple as blaming it on the coach.
 
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