Los Angeles Lakers: Evaluating the Luke Walton Fit

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Luke Walton to be their next head coach. Was it a good fit for all parties involved?

Luke Walton, two-time NBA champion and son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton, has an illusory coaching resume. Officially, he is an assistant coach with a 0-0 record as a head coach. Unofficially, Walton was a top coaching candidate because of his 39-4 coaching record with the Golden State Warriors this season.

Walton stepped in for head coach Steve Kerr to begin the year, guiding the Warriors to a record 24-0 start. His laid-back manner seemed to work well with a veteran team coming off of a title and still executing Kerr’s philosophy. They crushed all relevant competitors, losing their four games under Walton only in extreme situations. He had as much success as a coach in his position could possibly have, and therefore his name was attached to many open jobs this offseason.

So it was no surprise when Walton was announced as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played for his first eight-and-a-half seasons and won both of his titles. But was it a good fit for the Lakers? And was Walton right to take this particular job?

Good fit for Lakers

The Lakers have endured some of the worst that coaching has to offer. Mike Brown and Byron Scott oversaw the Kobe Bryant descent from superstar to super-inefficient shot-chucker. The Lakers saw their two worst seasons in franchise history the last two years under Scott.

One area where Scott stood out, in a decidedly negative way, was how hard he rode the young players on this roster. His old-school, “prove it” attitude seemed to result in underutilization of the more talented players on the roster, as well as the franchise’s future. In allowing Kobe Bryant the spotlight, he was denying any share of the stage for the stars of tomorrow.

Walton represents a severe change in coaching style from the senior Scott. Walton has a more hands-off approach in-game, not calling knee-jerk timeouts or nitpicking play calls. In between games, Walton is amongst the players in practice, playing post defense for a big man and next rebounding for a shooter.

The age difference is also likely to be a factor. Scott is 55 years old, 35 years older than Lakers’ rookie DeAngelo Russell. Walton, however, is twenty years younger and much less removed from being on an NBA roster himself. His ability to connect with the players in Golden State is one of his biggest strengths, and if he can translate that to the Lakers – and it’s reasonable to believe he will – he could unlock a level of trust that Scott was unable to find.

Walton’s two-year tutelage in Golden State may have been the best head coach incubator in the league. Not only was he able to watch and learn from Steve Kerr, already one of the best coaches in the league, but he worked alongside a talented collection of assistant coaches as well. Ron Adams is one of the most respected defensive minds in the game, and last year, Walton worked directly under offensive guru Alvin Gentry. Bruce Fraser is a lesser-known name, but his one-on-one work with Golden State’s stars is something Walton learned from as well.

While the rosters are by no means identical, they are similar in a number of key areas. Russell, while nowhere near Curry’s level, possesses a similar type of skill-set: above-average shooting, passing, and ball-handling. Julius Randle has the chops to be a playmaking four in the vein of Draymond Green. And if Jordan Clarkson sticks around, he has the long-distance acumen to serve as a “Splash Brother Lite” alongside Russell.

Finally, Walton presented perhaps the only true “long-term” option as a head coach. The Lakers are in the third and final year of the “agreement” between Jim Buss and his sister Jeanie. If the Lakers do not reach the playoffs next year, or at the least exhibit serious improvement, Jim has agreed to step down and Jeanie will take over day-to-day control of the franchise.

What is largely expected to happen at that time is the firing of longtime GM Mitch Kupchak and the return of Phil Jackson – Jeanie’s fiancé – to the Lakers. It is likely Jackson would want to handpick a coach, but with one of his pupils in place, Walton would most likely be safe.

Bad fit for Lakers

Walton is no slam dunk hire, however – a handful of downsides are clear when examining the new head coach. His age and player-camaraderie are positives in general, but there could be issues down the road. On a championship team such as Golden State, the same players generally stayed on the roster from year to year. On a rebuilding team such as Los Angeles, the core could be more nebulous. If Walton is swayed by his relationships to speak out against such trades, it could cause organizational friction.

Another reason for hesitation is Walton’s coaching record. Not the 39-4, but the 0-0. Walton’s only experience as a head coach was on “someone else’s team” – that is, Steve Kerr had instilled his culture and system, and Walton was just holding his place. It was never a team where Walton had full control, full pressure. Separated from the Warriors, he could struggle in establishing his own identity.

Bad fit for Walton

Luke Walton was set up as well as any assistant in the league – associate head coach on the greatest team in NBA history. He could have stayed there for as long as he wanted, knowing that every season, suitors would enquire about his services.

Instead, he took the head coaching position with the Los Angeles Lakers, meaning the agony of defeat will now be a much more regular presence in his life. Rather than stand behind Kerr and the attention he received, Walton is the man in Los Angeles. The amount of media pressure is second only to perhaps New York, and it will be focused on Luke Walton.

This Lakers team also isn’t very good. They won 17 games this season, second-worst in the league and the worst in franchise history. Kobe Bryant is retiring, but lame-duck veterans Lou Williams and Nick Young are locked in for at least another season. Jordan Clarkson may look like a great pairing with Russell, but he’s a restricted free agent this offseason.

Russell may be the franchise cornerstone moving forward, but in between his flashes of greatness on the court, he has shown flashes of deep immaturity, from the Snapchat incident to not playing hard on the court when he is without the ball. One great thing about the Warriors is the maturity that their star players had from Day One. Walton will have to address that arena just as much as the on-court performance.

Good fit for Walton

There are a number of jobs around the league that would be worse than Los Angeles. Although Nick Young isn’t the most stable person to have on a team, he isn’t a locked-in member of the core. Sacramento, which expressed interest in Walton, and Houston both have serious issues with their franchise players. Snapchat miscues aside, those don’t appear to be present in L.A.

There is also a deeper long-term talent pool already with this Lakers job compared to a job such as Brooklyn or New York. The Knicks were reported as interested in Walton, but have one franchise player and one aging star, with no pick this season to add to their core. The Lakers have a four-person collection of rookies and sophomores – Russell, Clarkson, Randle, and Larry Nance Jr. – to rival any rebuilding team in the league outside of Minnesota. If the Lakers retain their pick this season and add a top-3 pick to the mix, they will have a real foundation to build on.

The Lakers are also paying Walton $25 million over the course of five years; the benefits of staying in Golden State for another year or two have to be weighed against a paycheck that large. If Walton turns out to not be a great fit for the Lakers, he keeps the vast majority of that money even if he only coaches for two or three years.

Finally, sources close to Luke Walton have confirmed that this was his dream job. Ever since Phil Jackson let him sit beside him on the bench in L.A. – allowing the injured Walton to shadow the Hall of Fame coach – Walton has wanted to coach the Lakers someday. That day arrived, perhaps closer than Walton could ever have expected. There is no guarantee it would be an option down the road. He loves the franchise, the history, the city, the fans. This was where he wanted to be.

It’s possible this turns out to be a poor fit. Walton is relatively inexperienced and very laid back, which might not be a good fit for this roster. On the other hand, he is more proven than most first-time head coaches and has a lot of things working in his favor. No candidate is perfect, but Walton coaching the Lakers may turn out to be the perfect fit.