Sacramento Kings Hire Luke Walton as New Head Coach
By Liam McKeone
The rumblings started as soon as it was announced the Lakers had parted ways with Luke Walton. Now it’s official. Luke Walton will be the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings, as reported by The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
The Kings and Luke Walton have agreed to terms for him to be the next coach, a source tells @TheAthleticNBA. The length of his deal will be in line with that of Kings GM Vlade Divac, running through the 2022-23 season.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 13, 2019
Walton will have a chance to work with an exciting young core in Sacramento and fully implement his run-and-gun offense that we saw glimpses of during his time at the head of the Lakers and Warriors. He’ll be working with GM Vlade Divac to capitalize off the Kings’ best season since 2006.
It should be a good hire for the Kings. Walton’s best days as a coach came when he let the young guys in LA run in transition and figure out their mistakes as they go on. Walton as a young coach, paired with a young core, could definitely make some noise and develop into a legitimate team. It remains to be seen if Walton can develop talent, but the early returns in LA were looking good until it was all railroaded by the arrival of LeBron James.
It’s an exciting time for Sacramento and their fans after years of heartache and frustration. Walton is a good coach who was caught in the crossfire of the Magic Johnson/LeBron tenure in Los Angeles. If the team can get some shooters to complement De’Aron Fox, the Kings will be dangerous.