Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton was a member of the last two Golden State Warriors NBA Finals teams. In his first season as an assistant coach for the Warriors, Walton earned a Larry O’Brien Trophy. And after taking over as Steve Kerr’s top assistant, he helped oversee a 73-win team last season.
But if you ask Walton, who is coming off his first season as the Lakers’ head coach, he’s not looking to expedite this rebuilding process simply because of the Warriors’ success. In fact, Walton himself claims that this is the best time to rebuild around the NBA.
“I joke a lot. I said ‘if there’s a time to be rebuilding, this is the time to do it.’ The Warriors don’t look like they’re going anywhere for a while. They’re pretty darn good right now,” Walton said, via Bleacher Report’s The Full 48 podcast.
Golden State heads into Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers up 2-0. It is now 14-0 in the postseason with an average margin of victory of 17-plus points. Coming off a season in which the Warriors won 67-plus games for the third consecutive time, it looks like this team will be dominating the Western Conference for a while here.
At the very least, Walton knows where his Lakers stand and isn’t looking to sacrifice long term for a shot at the playoffs over the short term.
Los Angeles put up a 26-56 record this past regular season and is ways from contention in the Western Conference. Flush with the second pick in this year’s draft and some solid young target, the idea has to be to build through the draft before the team can attract a free agent of Kevin Durant’s ilk.
And in reality, that’s the same model Walton’s former Warriors squad used. Remember, the original core of this team was built through that draft. That includes the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Not until the Warriors showed an ability to contend did free agents come calling.
If Walton and new Lakers president Magic Johnson are prepared to use that model, it definitely bodes well for their ability to contend over the long term. Until then, it’s all about rebuild.