Luke Walton Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers, Suns, Rockets, Kings Eye Luke Walton

February 11th, 2016 at 10:27am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers, Suns, Rockets and Kings are likely to express interest in Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton for their head coaching jobs in the offseason, sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post. Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the Lakers and Suns would target him (Twitter link). They join the Knicks, who reportedly view Walton as a top candidate, even though New York appears a long shot for him, and the Nets, who apparently have the 35-year-old on their radar, at least, as they seek to fill their GM vacancy first.

Remaining with the Warriors for next season is not out of the realm of possibility for Walton, barring the emergence of an enticing offer, a source close to the coach suggested to Berman. That jibes with Walton’s recent remark that he’s in no rush to make a change and would “love to be back again next season” with Golden State. Walton is apparently set on remaining with the team at least through this season, which is liable to stretch well into June for the 48-4 Warriors.

Walton had talks with the Knicks about becoming an assistant coach in 2014, but the team wasn’t ready to make an offer when Warriors coach Steve Kerr pursued him for his staff at Golden State, as Berman details. Walton joined the Warriors that summer for his first job on an NBA bench and only his second season as a coach on any level following a 10-year NBA playing career. He ascended to interim head coach before this season when Kerr took a leave of absence to recover from two back surgeries, and Walton led the team to a sterling 39-4 record before Kerr returned last month.

The Suns, Rockets and Knicks all have interim head coaches, while Byron Scott and George Karl remain in their formal capacities as head coaches of the Lakers and Kings, respectively. However, Scott isn’t assured of lasting past the season and the Kings nearly fired Karl this week.

Which job makes the most sense for Walton? Leave a comment to tell us.

And-Ones: Jackson, Walton, Westbrook, Colangelo

February 9th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

A “strong belief” persists that Knicks team president Phil Jackson will wind up back with the Lakers organization with fiancee Jeanie Buss, and it’s a safe bet that the Zen Master’s tenure in New York won’t outlast whomever he picks as the team’s next coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. That leads Wojnarowski to wonder why Knicks coaching candidate Luke Walton would head to New York this summer. Walton, like Tom Thibodeau, looms as a candidate for the Lakers job, Wojnarowski writes, with Byron Scott not assured of lasting past the season, so Walton could eventually reunite with Jackson, his former coach, in L.A. Regardless, Jackson’s stubborn refusal to look outside his own sphere of influence for coaches and other employees isn’t in the best interests of the Knicks, Wojnarowski contends. See more from New York amid the latest from around the league:

Kristaps Porzingis and the allure of New York have Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook‘s attention as he thinks ahead to his free agency in 2017, Wojnarowski notes in the same piece.
Former Raptors and Suns GM Bryan Colangelo is the early favorite to land the Nets GM job, sources tell NetsDaily, which confirms that Colangelo is among several candidates interviewing with the team this week.
The Suns signed Jordan McRae to a second 10-day contract Monday, but it’s effectively a 12-day contract. That’s because all 10-day pacts are required to encompass at least three games, and Phoenix’s loss to the Thunder on Monday was one of only two games the team had left before the All-Star break when it re-signed McRae. The Suns open the second half of the season against the Rockets on March 19th, which will be the 12th day of McRae’s contract. He’ll make $37,065 instead of the standard $30,888 he’d see on a conventional 10-day deal.
The Hawks assigned Edy Tavares to the Spurs affiliate in the D-League on Monday, Atlanta announced. It’s the 10th time this season that the Hawks, who are without a D-League team of their own, have used San Antonio’s affiliate. Tavares will likely spend two games with the Austin Spurs on his latest stint, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

More Fallout From The Derek Fisher Firing

February 8th, 2016 at 10:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The firing of Derek Fisher may not be the last major move the Knicks make before the February 18th trade deadline, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. League sources told Begley that members of the New York front office talked to the Hawks last month about point guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder, but little progress was made because Atlanta didn’t like what the Knicks had to offer. That advances earlier dispatches about the Knicks and Teague, but the inclusion of Schröder is a previously unreported part of the story. Begley also hears that the Knicks have been keeping an eye on Pistons reserve point guard Brandon Jennings. With New York dropping nine of its last 10 games and in danger of sliding out of the Eastern Conference playoff race, team president Phil Jackson hopes to shake up the roster. Two players almost certain to stay put are Carmelo Anthony and rookie Kristaps Porzingis. “I think it is a known fact that Carmelo has a no-trade [clause],” Jackson said. “And we like Kris. Everybody likes Kris. There’s not too many people that ever would say that I would trade [Kristaps].”

There’s more from a news-filled day in New York:

Ex-Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who served eight seasons as an assistant in New York, makes no secret of how badly he wants the Knicks job, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Thibodeau “would walk here” to coach the Knicks, a source told Zagoria, echoing what Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com heard earlier. Jackson was non-committal about Thibodeau, saying, “I respect Tom as a coach, he’s a really good coach. But I’m not out soliciting coaches right now.”
A lack of development and a feeling of stagnation doomed Fisher, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. At 23-31, the Knicks have already surpassed their 17-win season of a year ago, but the front office believed the team wasn’t progressing as it should. Marks expects Jackson to pick a coach from his pool of former players and current assistants, but notes Luke Walton is the only member of that group to have success as a head coach.
The pairing of Fisher and Jackson never had a chance to work, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. He contends Jackson didn’t really believe in Fisher as a head coach, and Fisher, who moved straight to the job from the playing floor, was never committed to coaching. The Knicks were counting on hiring Steve Kerr in 2014, Deveney recalls, believing that Stan Van Gundy would wind up in Golden State. Fisher became a fallback plan when that unraveled.

Pacific Notes: Walton, Nash, Hill, Divac

February 8th, 2016 at 5:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Warriors assistant Luke Walton has hired the Wasserman Media Group to represent him in negotiations, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Walton is reportedly a top candidate for the newly created Knicks vacancy, but the prospect of Walton ending up in New York is a long shot, tweets Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com. See more from the defending champs amid the latest from around the Pacific Division:

Warriors part-time player development consultant Steve Nash said he wouldn’t be closed to the possibility of working for the Suns in the future, but he’s not willing to become the team’s coach for now, calling the notion of the team’s apparent interest in him for its head coaching vacancy “a moot point at this point.” The two-time MVP made his comments on J.J. Redick‘s podcast for The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (audio link, scroll to 7:45 mark).
Interim Suns coach Earl Watson told new assistant Bob Hill when Hill was Watson’s coach on the SuperSonics from 2006 to 2007 that he’d like to coach with him someday, and that longstanding desire brought Hill back into NBA coaching after a nine-year absence, as Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic details. Hill still has some bitterness toward Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich about Popovich’s decision to remove him as head coach of the Spurs nearly 20 years ago, Coro also relays. “I guess I didn’t do good enough. I don’t know. He wanted to be the coach,” Hill said of Popovich. “And as soon as he had an opportunity to get rid of me, he did it. It’s too bad. The league’s like that sometimes. You’re going to run into people like that sometimes and that’s part of life. It was a great experience. I’m happy I had that. It hasn’t affected my coaching. I continued to coach and always will.”
Kings GM Vlade Divac is only willing to make a trade if it’s a significant upgrade for the team, in spite of a report indicating that Sacramento is actively shopping many of its players, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee wrote today in a chat with readers.

Knicks Notes: Hornacek, Walton, Fisher, ‘Melo

February 8th, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jeff Hornacek and Knicks team president Phil Jackson share a rapport and a respect for each other, leading one source to tell Howard Beck of Bleacher Report that it’s worth keeping an eye on the recently fired Suns coach as the Knicks consider candidates for their newly vacant head coaching job (Twitter link). One of the reasons the Knicks fired Derek Fisher today is because they wanted to get a head start on recruiting Luke Walton, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports says in a video report, but Walton is reportedly determined to remain with the Warriors through the rest of the season. See more on a noteworthy day in New York:

Fisher strayed too much from the triangle offense, Jackson believed, and players were increasingly upset with Fisher over confusion about their roles, Wojnarowski says in the same video, citing additional reasons why the Knicks made the change.
Jackson said members of Fisher’s coaching staff weren’t on the same page with each other, suggesting a chasm that had experienced hands Kurt Rambis and Jim Cleamons on one side and relative neophytes Brian Keefe and Joshua Longstaff on the other, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily notes. “I was able to surround [Fisher] with some very experienced coaches, and he had support staff, that was really important too. If he didn’t take advantage of it, maybe that’s part of it, too,” Jackson said. “Kurt, Jim Cleamons, some of the guys that have experienced, detailed experience. Derek hired some young guys who have helped him, have great work ethic and kind of meet the standard that he likes. But there wasn’t a consensus in our staff and we decided we needed to have a real good consensus in our staff, interchanging of ideas and communication.”
Rambis, in one of his first comments as interim coach to reporters today, said making the playoffs this season is the goal for the team, notes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (Twitter link). That’s in stark contrast to Fisher’s remark last week on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM that failing to make the playoffs wouldn’t be disappointing.
Jackson cited Carmelo Anthony‘s no-trade clause when asked if ‘Melo is off-limits for a trade, and the Zen Master also dismissed any notion that he’d trade Kristaps Porzingis, notes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link).

Fallout From Knicks Firing Of Derek Fisher

February 8th, 2016 at 1:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kurt Rambis will continue as interim head coach of the Knicks for the rest of the season, team president Phil Jackson told reporters, including Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (Twitter link), and he’ll get a “real shot” to keep the job for the long term, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Still, Luke Walton and Brian Shaw will obviously be in any discussion to become the ultimate successor to the fired Derek Fisher, Shelburne adds, echoing ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst’s report that sources believe Walton and Shaw are the team’s top candidates (Twitter link). Shaw would love to take the Knicks job, a source close to him told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, while Walton is intent on remaining with the Warriors through the end of the season, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links).

See more fallout in the wake of the NBA’s latest coaching change.

Jackson wouldn’t rule out calling Tom Thibodeau, who reportedly wants the job, but the Zen Master made it clear that the relationship between him and his next coach is important, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports, who points out that Jackson and Thibodeau aren’t close (Twitter link). Jackson took a somewhat brusque tone when asked about Thibodeau, observes Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). The next Knicks coach must be a stylistic fit, Jackson said, adding that the triangle offense isn’t paramount but is important, note Marc Berman of the New York Post and Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter links).
The guaranteed portion of Fisher’s five-year, $25MM contract was worth $17MM over four years, so the Knicks owe him $8.5MM for next season and 2017/18 combined, according to Windhorst (on Twitter).
Jackson told reporters he made the decision to fire Fisher, Bontemps notes, and Jackson went to owner James Dolan over the past weekend to get clearance to eat the remaining guarantee on Fisher’s deal, according to Shelburne (Twitter links).
The Knicks had concluded before their recent spate of losing that Fisher wasn’t effectively transitioning from playing to coaching, sources told Windhorst, but Jackson said the team’s nine losses in its last 10 games represented the most significant catalyst for the firing, Bontemps tweets.
Fisher’s alleged physical encounter with Matt Barnes was embarrassing but ultimately not a factor in his dismissal, Jackson said, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post (on Twitter).
Jackson said he didn’t consider taking the interim coaching job himself, given his health issues, Bontemps notes (on Twitter).
A share of the blame for the team’s poor performance falls on the players, Jackson acknowledged, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link), though Jackson had been keeping close watch on Fisher this season to track his growth as a coach, Shelburne tweets.

Knicks Fire Derek Fisher, Promote Kurt Rambis

February 8th, 2016 at 10:05am CST by Chuck Myron

Russ Isabella / USA TODAY Sports Images

10:05am: Fisher’s dismissal and the promotion of Rambis to interim head coach are official, the team said (Twitter links). The Knicks attributed the announcement to Jackson.

9:54am: The Knicks have fired coach Derek Fisher, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The team hasn’t made any announcement, but Shelburne hears from sources that the move has taken place. New York will name Kurt Rambis interim coach, Shelburne adds, though league sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com that they believe Brian Shaw and Luke Walton, both of whom have ties to team president Phil Jackson, are the team’s top long-term candidates for the position (Twitter link). Former Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau has always wanted to become the head coach in New York and “would crawl” to Madison Square Garden for the job, a confidant told Ian O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link), though it’s unclear if the team will consider him.

Knicks owner James Dolan wasn’t thrilled to hear Fisher say that it wouldn’t be disappointing if the team missed the playoffs in comments the coach made last week on the “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM, as a source told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News for a piece that came out overnight. Fisher’s job didn’t appear to be in jeopardy because he had the support of Jackson, Isola wrote then, but Dolan, who has the ultimate authority, hasn’t been reluctant to exercise it years past, as the Daily News scribe pointed out.

Knicks “management” has been disappointed with the team’s performance, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, though it’s not clear if it was Jackson, Dolan or someone else who was primarily dismayed. New York has lost nine of its last 10 games, including back-to-back home losses to the Grizzlies and Nuggets this weekend, to drop to 23-31, five games back of the Pistons for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Fisher’s record in a season and a half with the team was 40-96, including last season’s 17-65 disaster. Many executives and assistant coaches from other teams around the league thought Fisher put on the league’s worst coaching performance last year, according to Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link). Last season was Fisher’s first as an NBA coach, having scored the Knicks job immediately after the end of his playing career. The team feels as though Fisher wasn’t effectively making the transition from player to coach, sources told Windhorst.

The Knicks signed Fisher to a five-year, $25MM deal after the team reportedly encountered difficulty in its negotiations with Jackson’s top choice, Steve Kerr, who chose to take the Warriors job instead. Fisher made headlines during his time with New York for an alleged run-in with Matt Barnes, though the relationship Fisher had with soon-to-be free agent Kevin Durant, his former teammate on the Thunder, was always part of his appeal. Durant spoke highly of the Knicks when Oklahoma City was in New York for a game recently.

Did Fisher deserve to be fired? Leave a comment to tell us.

And-Ones: Griffin, Horford, Bazemore, Walton

January 27th, 2016 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

People who work for the Clippers are “miserable” about the embarrassment that the reported altercation between Blake Griffin and equipment manager Mathis Testi has brought upon the franchise, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes. Griffin, who’s expected to miss four to six weeks recovering from the broken hand he apparently suffered in the incident, issued a statement of apology through his verified Twitter account.

“A situation among friends escalated and I regret the way I handled myself towards someone I care about,” Griffin wrote. “I want to apologize to the Clippers’ organization, my teammates and the fans for creating a distraction. I am working with the team on a resolution and getting back in the game as soon as possible.”

The Clippers earlier seemed to express frustration with Griffin in a sharply worded response to the affair when they announced Griffin’s injury Tuesday. See more from around the NBA:

The Hawks aren’t entirely sure that Al Horford will re-sign in free agency this summer, and they’re making it a priority to re-sign fellow soon-to-be free agent Kent Bazemore, too, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports says in the latest edition of his “The Vertical” podcast (audio link, scroll ahead to 48-minute mark). Wojnarowski and Yahoo Sports colleague Chris Mannix also elaborated on the Atlanta’s trade talks involving Jeff Teague.
Luke Walton said that he had fun as interim Warriors head coach but acknowledged that he still has much to learn as he spoke in a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game. Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group has the partial transcription (Twitter links). “I’m not in a rush to go out and do anything different,” Walton said. “I enjoy the assistant role too … I’d love to be back again next season.”
Matthew Dellavedova was “definitely shocked” when the Cavaliers fired David Blatt and said to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he’s sure he’ll cross paths with the coach again. “Coach Blatt was huge for me,” Dellavedova said. “He gave me a great opportunity. He really believed in me and 100% supported me. It was really great for my career, so I’m always going to be appreciative for what he did for me.” Dellavedova is set for restricted free agency at season’s end.

Luke Walton On Nets Coaching Radar

January 12th, 2016 at 10:12am CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets are eyeing Warriors interim coach Luke Walton, whom they’re likely to consider as they seek a long-term replacement for the fired Lionel Hollins, sources tell Sam Amico of Amico Hoops and Fox Sports Ohio. Other reports have linked the Nets to John Calipari, Monty Williams and, more loosely, Chris Mullin. Nets assistant Tony Brown is serving as Brooklyn’s interim coach in the wake of Sunday’s dismissal of Hollins and reassignment of GM Billy King.

Walton, the NBA’s Western Conference Coach of the Month for November, has the Warriors at 36-2 while Steve Kerr continues to recover from two back surgeries. That’s the best 38-game start in NBA history, and it’s all the more remarkable given Walton’s relative inexperience. He’s just three years removed from having played in 50 games for the Cavaliers in the 2012/13 season, and last season was his first as an NBA assistant. He spent one season as a player development coach for the D-League affiliate of the Lakers in between the end of his playing career and the time Kerr added him to his staff in the summer of 2014.

The 35-year-old has expressed an interest in formally becoming a head coach some day, though it’s “nothing I’m trying to rush into,” as he told Ben Golliver of SI.com in November. Coaching the Nets would seemingly pose a much stiffer challenge than the Warriors do, since Brooklyn is mired in a 10-28 season and without its first-round pick this year. Still, the Nets have $45MM in guaranteed salaries against a projected $89MM cap for this summer, and it would seem likely that the Nets wouldn’t hire Walton until the offseason, though that’s just my speculation.

Walton has a tie to the recently deposed Nets coach. His father, Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton, was a teammate of Hollins’ on the Trail Blazers.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Chandler, Walton

January 2nd, 2016 at 3:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Kings are at a critical point in relation to the direction of the franchise, and the question must be asked if center DeMarcus Cousins is the player the team should be building around, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. Cousins is on his fifth coach since entering the league and Sacramento has yet to eclipse the 30 win mark with the big man as the focal point, which isn’t a glowing endorsement of his ability to be the franchise’s anchor going forward, Amick notes.

Coach George Karl is also questioning the team’s demeanor and the roster’s lack of defensive-minded players, Amick adds. “My thought, and I told the team my thought, is inconsistent intensity, inconsistent focus, inconsistent toughness and mental discipline,” Karl said. “Too many times we’ve come out on this court and we’ve been the quiet team, or the soft team, or the cool team, and not the man team. My feeling is we have too many offensive players. We don’t have enough guts to make stops.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns find themselves in a difficult spot regarding rebuilding the roster, and with approximately $110MM committed to the backcourt duo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight through 2018/19, the team’s best course of action would be to attempt to deal Tyson Chandler and Markieff Morris in order to clear cap space, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. Phoenix should also consider waiving small forward P.J. Tucker and his partially guaranteed pact this offseason, which would free up an additional $3.7MM in cap room, Greene adds.
Warriors interim coach Luke Walton was the perfect choice for the franchise to fill in for Steve Kerr while he recovers from back surgery, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Leung cites Walton’s humble demeanor and excellent preparedness as reasons why he was able to find immediate success, though Golden State’s talented roster certainly was a major benefit for the young coach as well.