LUUUKE

[Retroram52]

This is interesting. Luke with star power to entice FAs to come to LA? Barnes and Ezeli following Luke? Who is next? Durant?

Could Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli follow Luke Walton to the Lakers?

 

[trojanfan12]

Some quotes from Luke:

On what the Lakers said in the interview:

They laid it all out. They showed what they want to do, players they plan on going after, all that type of stuff. It's exciting to me, to get with one of the greatest organizations in the history of sports and they're ready and willing to go after it, whatever it takes. That's an exciting time.

On the Lakers young core:

I love it. I think they have some good, young, talented players. Obviously, you need to mix in some good vets with that to have players on the court that can help the young players grow.

On the challenge of coaching the current Lakers vs. Golden State:

The one here was trying to take a good team and make them great. The team in L.A., we need to go down there and build a foundation, we're in the beginning years of that.

On the offense he will bring:

I don't think the triangle is the most appropriate offense for the players they have in place right there, so I think I'm going to bring more of the style and spacing that we use up here.

On D'Angelo Russell:

Whet he did was really impressive. He's got a skill set that could allow him to be a very talented, high-level point guard in this league.

He also intends to include as much of the culture they have in Golden State as possible, including playing music during parts of practices to get the players "blood flowing." Kerr adopted the practice after visiting Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks and seeing that they play music during practice.

Funny story about GSW's music. Apparently, Luke got teased pretty good when he got back and it was announced he had agreed to coach the Lakers. GSW Assistant Coach Nick U'Ren is apparently responsible for the days playlist and yesterday, as another jab at Luke, he included this little ditty:

 

[trojanfan12]

This is interesting. Luke with star power to entice FAs to come to LA? Barnes and Ezeli following Luke? Who is next? Durant?

Could Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli follow Luke Walton to the Lakers?

Would love to see the Lakers get those 2. It would immediately fill 2 areas of need.

I was struck by a different quote in that article though:

He is a calming yet youthful presence on staff.

I think we all remember who it was that Phil would put into the game to get everything calmed down and back on track when the Lakers would stray too far from playing the triangle. Looks like he's the same way as a coach.

 

[Retroram52]

I agree TJF12. I think there was a reason that Mitch didn't let Luke out of the room until he agreed to a deal. Perhaps Bill should STHU and go away.

 

[trojanfan12]

I agree TJF12. I think there was a reason that Mitch didn't let Luke out of the room until he agreed to a deal. Perhaps Bill should STHU and go away.

Yeah, Mitch handled that they way Dr. Buss used to. He'd target who he wanted and wouldn't take no for an answer. That is how the Lakers have always done business. As wildturkey said on a different thread: It's the Lakers. They show up late to the dance and still go home with the prettiest girl.

Even if Luke doesn't turn out to be the right coach, the decisiveness with which they acted was nice to see.

Agree on Bill. He just needs to go smoke peyote with Phil somewhere. Glad Luke is his own man and didn't listen to Daddy.

 

[wildturkey]

This is interesting. Luke with star power to entice FAs to come to LA? Barnes and Ezeli following Luke? Who is next? Durant?

Could Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli follow Luke Walton to the Lakers?

Both of those guys are restricted free agents though so they are probably not going anywhere unless Durant wants to go to GS, and thus would have to shed some salary (by not matching their contracts) to get Durant there so I wouldn't get my hopes up on that one.

Although Ezeli is the more gettable of the two. He's shown flashes of being starter worthy center that plays a lesser role for the Warriors, so if a team throws some starter worthy money at him, the Warriors might just let him walk to save the space for later. He's been nicked up quite a bit though so you're running a risk if you throw too much money at a guy that hasn't been a full season starter and has injury issues.

TLDR version, I like him as a buy low guy but buying low might not be enough to pry him away from the Dubs since they might just match the contract since he's restricted.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I like the hire and I think it was a good one, but I would caution every one not to be expecting miracles overnight and be demanding for Luke's head when the Lakers go on more losing streaks. Luke looked pretty good because he was coaching the best team in the NBA just off of a championship run while using another man's dream and vision for direction. Now he is going to the second worst team in the NBA with a group of rookies that have at least two more years before they are good enough to be elite players. If the Lakers are short of attracting free agents, then it's going to take a lot more patience and time with really huge rewards with the group of young players we got now. If we get that draft pick this month and if we get some free agents, things could be better, but those are still if's

 

[trojanfan12]

I like the hire and I think it was a good one, but I would caution every one not to be expecting miracles overnight and be demanding for Luke's head when the Lakers go on more losing streaks. Luke looked pretty good because he was coaching the best team in the NBA just off of a championship run while using another man's dream and vision for direction. Now he is going to the second worst team in the NBA with a group of rookies that have at least two more years before they are good enough to be elite players. If the Lakers are short of attracting free agents, then it's going to take a lot more patience and time with really huge rewards with the group of young players we got now. If we get that draft pick this month and if we get some free agents, things could be better, but those are still if's

I think that folks understand that we are dealing with a 36 year old coach with 43 games of head coaching experience, who also is dealing with a very young roster that is still learning how to play. I think folks will be patient. Obviously, who they get in FA will effect the how long the patience will last.

The whole hiring of Byron just was wrong. Not just that Byron wasn't the right guy for the job, but also the fact that it took so long to make a decision, that they went into the draft and FA without having the coach hired. Then, when they hired him they gave him, I believe a 3 year contract with a team option on year 3.

With Luke, they acted pretty decisively and from what I've heard, he has 4 years guaranteed (no team or coach options) and incentives that could get it up to $6 million a year.

Obviously, we don't know how any of this will work out in the long run, but it's nice to see the Lakers acting like the Lakers again.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I think that folks understand that we are dealing with a 36 year old coach with 43 games of head coaching experience, who also is dealing with a very young roster that is still learning how to play. I think folks will be patient. Obviously, who they get in FA will effect the how long the patience will last.

The whole hiring of Byron just was wrong. Not just that Byron wasn't the right guy for the job, but also the fact that it took so long to make a decision, that they went into the draft and FA without having the coach hired. Then, when they hired him they gave him, I believe a 3 year contract with a team option on year 3.

With Luke, they acted pretty decisively and from what I've heard, he has 4 years guaranteed (no team or coach options) and incentives that could get it up to $6 million a year.

Obviously, we don't know how any of this will work out in the long run, but it's nice to see the Lakers acting like the Lakers again.

I think that Byron was brought only for Kobe's last two years and Byron had a history of developing new players. His record of not lasting long term on teams speak for itself. Once Kobe was finished, the Scott had pretty much done what they had hired him to do and were ready to move on. Especially considering that the Lakers only one 14 games or so. Had that number been 30 - Scott might still be current had coach except for one thing. Being guaranteed Luke Walton was simply too good to not gamble on.

 

[trojanfan12]

I think that Byron was brought only for Kobe's last two years and Byron had a history of developing new players. His record of not lasting long term on teams speak for itself. Once Kobe was finished, the Scott had pretty much done what they had hired him to do and were ready to move on. Especially considering that the Lakers only one 14 games or so. Had that number been 30 - Scott might still be current had coach except for one thing. Being guaranteed Luke Walton was simply too good to not gamble on.

Yea and no. I'm sure that him sort of mentoring Kobe was part of the reason he was brought back and he did have a reputation for working well with young point guards.

If the Lakers had won 30 games, I doubt Walton even gets interviewed because the Lakers would have actually met or even exceeded what most though they'd win.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Yea and no. I'm sure that him sort of mentoring Kobe was part of the reason he was brought back and he did have a reputation for working well with young point guards.

If the Lakers had won 30 games, I doubt Walton even gets interviewed because the Lakers would have actually met or even exceeded what most though they'd win.

That 14 game situation was the killer for sure, because there were just to many games where Scott lost control of the games because the players.

 

[Retroram52]

Looks like Luke has tendered an offer to Brian Shaw to join his staff. Good choice if it goes down.

Luke Walton recruiting Brian Shaw to join Lakers coaching staff

 

[trojanfan12]

This seems far fetched, but interesting.

NBA Draft 2016: Can the Lakers make a run at drafting Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram?

 

[trojanfan12]

Looks like Luke has tendered an offer to Brian Shaw to join his staff. Good choice if it goes down.

Luke Walton recruiting Brian Shaw to join Lakers coaching staff

Agree that he'd be an excellent choice for Luke's staff. I know his HC stint in Denver didn't go well. But I'm not sure how much of that is on him.

 

[shopson67]

This seems far fetched, but interesting.

NBA Draft 2016: Can the Lakers make a run at drafting Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram?

Yeah, that's definitely a reach. Taking the protection off of next year's pick isn't even necessary, as the Lakers have 60M to spend via free agency. If that doesn't get them out of the top 3 lottery picks, making any chance at a top 3 pick infinitesimal, then the whole front office should be out the door. Future 1st rounders 5 years out aren't going to carry much value either, so it comes down to giving up that young core to add a rookie. That sounds like the Sixers plan, not the Lakers IMO.

 

[Rambunctious]

Yeah, that's definitely a reach. Taking the protection off of next year's pick isn't even necessary, as the Lakers have 60M to spend via free agency. If that doesn't get them out of the top 3 lottery picks, making any chance at a top 3 pick infinitesimal, then the whole front office should be out the door. Future 1st rounders 5 years out aren't going to carry much value either, so it comes down to giving up that young core to add a rookie. That sounds like the Sixers plan, not the Lakers IMO.

I would normally agree that giving up on your young players for one rookie is not a good idea. However that young core only pulled together 17 wins last season. I know how crazy this sounds but I think a total rebuild may be what the Dr. ordered. Keep who you must and trade away the rest for whatever you can get. It can't get any worse in my opinion. The Lakers have to start winning again now not 3 or 4 years from now.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

I would normally agree that giving up on your young players for one rookie is not a good idea. However that young core only pulled together 17 wins last season. I know how crazy this sounds but I think a total rebuild may be what the Dr. ordered. Keep who you must and trade away the rest for whatever you can get. It can't get any worse in my opinion. The Lakers have to start winning again now not 3 or 4 years from now.

Last year was Kobes farewell tour that ultimately resulted in the #2 pick. We've hardly seen what Russell, Clarkson and Randle can do exactly. New coach, new system and a very exciting off season ahead of us.

We're in the middle of that rebuild.

 

[Wamu]

LUUUKE...

 

[Rambunctious]

Last year was Kobes farewell tour that ultimately resulted in the #2 pick. We've hardly seen what Russell, Clarkson and Randle can do exactly. New coach, new system and a very exciting off season ahead of us.

We're in the middle of that rebuild.

I hope you're right. Seems like they are at the beginning of that rebuild though. Maybe with Kobe out of the way we will see some of these players excel. I have my doubts but I'm still hopeful.

 

[tomodach10]

I hope you're right. Seems like they are at the beginning of that rebuild though. Maybe with Kobe out of the way we will see some of these players excel. I have my doubts but I'm still hopeful.

The focus last year was all about Kobe. That is over now. The Lakers will be improved next year. I don't know how you can say they are at the beginning when they have Randle, Clarkso, and Russell, to build around.