Luke Walton has been named the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers for less than 24 hours, but he’s already made some definitive statements about how he’s going to run his new squad.
Walton will not run the triangle offense as the Lakers' coach. It's not the "most appropriate" offense for personnel they have, he said.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) April 30, 2016
Luke will run offense more like Golden State, with spacing and motion, he says.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) April 30, 2016
Walton played for the Lakers when Phil Jackson ran the Triangle, so it wasn’t far-fetched at all to believe that Walton might carry that over when he took over, despite not running that offense with the Warriors under Steve Kerr. This also might be a hint as to why Walton never interviewed with the Knicks, who are under orders from basketball czar Phil Jackson to run the Triangle.
Meanwhile, Walton’s compensation has also been revealed by Marc Stein of ESPN.
ESPN sources say Luke Walton lands a five-year deal with the Lakers (four years guaranteed) at $5-to-6 million annually including incentives
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 30, 2016
He will be getting less guaranteed money than either Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota or Scott Brooks in Washington, but his salary incentives could raise the total over both of those coaches with time.
Walton will assume head coaching duties with the Lakers when this current Warriors season is over.
