Walton fired by Lakers; Kings make offer (merged)

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


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Fortunately from what I’m reading it doesn’t seem a foregone conclusion Luke will get the job, and, the team plans to speak to Messina

I still have hope here
Reading between the lines, I think it’s foregone conclusion that Walton will be the next coach of the Kings.

I personally think that Joerger is a better coach. I don’t think we can read too much into this season as he was a dead man walking from the moment LeBron signed. He had just as good a season with Lakers last year as Joerger had with the Kings this season.

Am I thrilled?! Not at all but I am willing to see what Luke can do with this team. Personally, I would have kept Joerger whom I think is a better coach (but I might be biased)
 
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.
Coaches don't draft player, they develop them and use systems to get the most out of the talent they have.
 
Reading between the lines, I think it’s foregone conclusion that Walton will be the next coach of the Kings.

I personally think that Joerger is a better coach. I don’t think we can read too much into this season as he was a dead man walking from the moment LeBron signed. He had just as good a season with Lakers last year as Joerger had with the Kings this season.

Am I thrilled?! Not at all but I am willing to see what Luke can do with this team. Personally, I would have kept Joerger whom I think is a better coach (but I might be biased)
I also like Dave quite a bit but even I have to admit he had some baffling strategies the entire season. Sitting Fox to more than halfway through the fourth quarter many times, not starting Bagley when it was clear he was better than WCS, overplaying Bogi when he was hot garbage, and Barnes at the 4 position. Ultimately though it came down to his conflict within the organization. Vlade has said in the past he won’t tolerate that behavior and good on him for keeping his word.

It’s too bad though I’m sure Dave wanted to see this through.
 
Luke had the respect of his player and you could see their progress last year. With young coaches, you can tell if players want to play for them and if they have potential to be winning coaches. Last year, I felt the Lakers were way ahead of the curve compared to the Kings.

He got torpedoed by the LeBron James signing. Just like a good young coach, Mike Malone, got torpedoed by the PDA signing.

Instant success isn’t likely with a young coach and a rebuilding team, but you can see the potential.

Like Mike Malone, I can see the potential for Luke Walton to be an excellent coach. The circumstance just screwed both of them over.
 
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So with that logic LBJ=PDA. Got it.
Well IMO Pelinka=PDA and Magic is a rich womans Chris Mullin, a very rich woman:)

I'm to the point of exhaustion with the Kings:( Watching that loss to the Nets in person wore me out.

After the poor play post All Star something was not right with the Kings. Vlade is in charge and doing what he thinks will fix it. I'm going to sit back and observe. While I don't care to rehash every move made since Rick Adelman left the building the rest of you are welcome to it and i will read it most likely:)
 

Kingster

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 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.
There could have been a push-pull thing going on. Vlade said he really started thinking about a coaching move after the All Star break, which was when Walton became dead man walking.

P.S. Vlade also seemed to intimate that he did have *some* critical thoughts on Joerger prior to the break.
 
After the poor play post All Star something was not right with the Kings. Vlade is in charge and doing what he thinks will fix it. I'm going to sit back and observe. While I don't care to rehash every move made since Rick Adelman left the building the rest of you are welcome to it and i will read it most likely:)
I agree. While I don’t think Joeger necessary “lost” the locker room....there certainly seemed to be a disconnect with things in the second half. It is possible for the people in this thread who say Joeger is a better coach than Luke (or other potential hires) to be correct but it still be the the right move for Vlade to move on. I don’t think it’s black and white. I am a little curious what would have happened if we finished a little stronger (say 42 or 43 wins) without those embarrassing meltdowns over the last couple weeks. Was his fate already sealed or did the poor finish validate the concerns and provide Vlade the final push to make this happen.
 
I think that has more to do with Lebron than anything else. If Kings had a talent like Lebron, then I could see what you’re taking about.

Hiring Walton is a Vivek move,
 
P.S. Vlade also seemed to intimate that he did have *some* critical thoughts on Joerger prior to the break.
I think Vlade was trying to be patient with Joeger's handling of Bagley at the beginning of the year. He probably was open to allowing Joeger to bring Bagley along slowly. But, I think Vlade started to get impatient with Joeger's refusal to start Bagley, even after the all star break, even though Bagley showed he was the best big man on the team.

It was clear that Vlade sees Fox and Bagley as the cornerstones of the franchise. I'm not so sure Joeger had that faith in Bagley. I think Joeger's lack of faith in Vlade's players (i.e. Bagley and to lesser extent Giles) that Vlade hand picked probably cost him his job.

Also, I think Joeger's subsitutions and sitting the starters for too long in the 4th quarter, lost too many games for the Kings. That is why I think Vlade said he thought the Kings could have had a better record.
 
There could have been a push-pull thing going on. Vlade said he really started thinking about a coaching move after the All Star break, which was when Walton became dead man walking.

P.S. Vlade also seemed to intimate that he did have *some* critical thoughts on Joerger prior to the break.
It’s when Joerger made the Doncic comments
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
Golly!

Well, I'm not too psyched about this....But I'm willing to give him a shot. Luke did do a good job with the Lakers before it got all Lebron'd up in LA.

Hopefully this isn't a step back. These unproven guys freak me out...Such a Vlade move haha. Dude loves gambling!
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
Golly!

Well, I'm not too psyched about this....But I'm willing to give him a shot. Luke did do a good job with the Lakers before it got all Lebron'd up in LA.

Hopefully this isn't a step back. These unproven guys freak me out...Such a Vlade move haha. Dude loves gambling!
Can’t ever say Vlade is afraid.
 
Why not due your due diligence and interview more than one person. At least til after the finals. Vlade either really wants Luke or scared from the boogie experience waiting too long. Don’t want to say I had a better coaching candidate 2 days ago.
 
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