Luke Walton and the bench

[That Nicka]

I am a huge Luke Walton fan, he is one of my favorite players... But he is playing horrible right now...


IMO, he is much better when he starts because he gets open looks with the starters that he doesnt get while playing with the 2nd unit... Also his ability to distribute the ball to Kobe, Lamar, post players etc.... but right now he is not worthy of a starting spot... At this rate, he will be our 3rd string SF when Ariza gets back... No point paying 5 mil to a 3rd stringer right??

Ariza/Radman can produce regardless whether they start or come off the bench imo, so... Do we trade him? He brings nothing to the table when he comes off the bench, and like I said, he is not deserving of a starting spot this season... I say, either start him or trade him, what do you guys think?

[dockingsched]

i dont think trading him is a realistic scenario. lakers are'nt going to jump the gun on luke after committing to him for so many yrs. at the same time, not many teams out there have a need for luke's skill set. he's also byc, so it'll be hard to move him even if the situation popped up. at this point i think luke gets spot minutes until he shows some confidence in his jumper. i mean, even lamar has shown more confidence in his jumper lately.

[snaquille oatmeal]

I am kind of anoyed with all the name calling Luke has been getting. he has been playing hurt so yeah he is not playing up to expectations, but give him some time and he will come around. Radman did so will Luke. patience.

[gmurray8]

How is Luke going to get any PT when Ariza/Bynum come back? Radman and Sasha are bombing 3's too well to reduce their PT.

[xX_BabyBoy_Xx]

he is a role player, everybody on the team understands what their roles are. we know what he is capable of doing, including his tremendous understanding of the triangle., that alone makes him valuable to us for the the playoffs, i'd much rather have him healing on the bench, then trading him for someone with zero triangle experience.

[Sofa King]

He needs to lay off those pizzas on game day.

[ImmortalD24]

We can't trade Luke, no one would take on his contract, VladRad is 10times more valuable than Luke.

I wish he would just retire, his future in the NBA looks very bleak.

EDIT: He brings nothing to the team, it's like we're always playing 4on5 when he's on the court, his man always doubles Kobe and whenever Kobe passes to Luke.. Luke would simply put the ball on the floor because he has absolutely no confidence on his shot then the defense would rotate in time.

[rsrjr]

We can't trade Luke, no one would take on his contract, VladRad is 10times more valuable than Luke.

I wish he would just retire, his future in the NBA looks very bleak.

EDIT: He brings nothing to the team, it's like we're always playing 4on5 when he's on the court, his man always doubles Kobe and whenever Kobe passes to Luke.. Luke would simply put the ball on the floor because he has absolutely no confidence on his shot then the defense would rotate in time.

He is in the first year of a 6yr 30 million dollar contract...My future should look so bleak!!!

[TheUrbanZealot]

-= original quote snipped =-



He is in the first year of a 6yr 30 million dollar contract...My future should look so bleak!!!

The guy was exaggerating, but I can see where he's coming from, at least from a Laker perspective. With the addition of Pau Gasol, Vlad went from being the least important backup SF to the most important out of all of them. Arguably he is the biggest X factor since he's the Lakers best 3pt threat- and the fact that he often plays a 4 makes life easier for Gasol/Bynum in the post.

Walton doesn't really have a spot on this Laker team now I'm afraid. He has value, and can definitely help a team, but he needs to be in the right system, with the right players. Kobe is perfect for him but now with Gasol and the fact that Radman is hot and Walton is not doesn't bode well for him.

If we could only morph Walton and Radman- basically place Walton's bball IQ inside Radman's head, man... I think the Lakers could go 70 wins...

[slifersd]

The problem with Luke Walton is that he doesn't really do anything well other than passing. Some nights, he can shoot the ball but other times he can't hit a jumper to save his life. His limited athletic ability and dribbling skills also makes it hard for him to create his own shots. At the SF spot, we have Radmanovich and Ariza, two perfect role players for our current squad. Walton shouldn't and wouldn't get too much playing time beyond those two guys. Walton is a favorite for Phil because of his basketball IQ, but his inability to do anything else other than passing is holding the team back. With his current offensive performances, it's like we have a 6'8" Kwame Brown on the court.

Considering the amount of salary we already have on the books and Bynum's soon to come extension, I think we should dump Walton's salary if we get a chance to. We can find a third string SF for much cheaper than 5 million a year. If we do somehow dump a couple of contracts, we might have enough money left to resign Odom and Bynum.

[RJM]

It is my belief that he stays, but in limited minutes unless he proves that he can be more productive than Trevor Ariza and VladRad.

[SportsFan215]

Clippers fans have said they would like him on their team. They would trade Cassell in a three way if possible.

[realfung]

I think he can be real good, but he just need some PT..
He is a triple double threat night in and night out.

[Lakerholic44]

This is a good topic, but I'm going to delve into it a bit more since the title also read, " ...and the bench."

There is a bad trend that needs to be broken, as the Kobe no scoring trend was broken against the Magic. And that is, the lack of bench scoring and production. Luke is playing even more putrid since the Gasol trade and every time he comes in I wince and think, "don't do anything stupid Luke," when he's supposed to be a smart baller. He's making some seriously bone-headed passes and plays and the worst of all is that he's taking way too many ill-advised shots.

A big problem is that the scouting report on Luke has completely caught up to him: Simply let him shoot from the outside, give him space if he's in front of you since he he doesn't have a high or quick shot release, and in the post don't go for his pump fakes as a defender can pretty much wait until they're sure that Walton will shoot the ball as he's not explosive or athletic enough to avoid his shot being altered or blocked. For all the props he gets for his passing, Walton has been making too many bad passes as of late as opposed to good or even great ones...and that has nothing to do with injuries.

I'm really worried, at this point, that Walton had a classic contract season last season or that he's mentally weak. He came out early last season flashing a newfound outside jumper and was a deadly three point threat...until he got hurt. Then the bottom fell off of him after that. So this leads to one of two conclusions about Luke. He's too weak mentally to fight back from injuries (doesn't have the grit or moxie to battle through physical adversity) or he didn't work hard enough this past off-season after the Lakers gave him that new contract. Not a good conclusion either way you look at it.

Farmar, since the trade, has also done very little. He hasn't hit open jumpers, he's not playing the same type of defense, and he's not creating like he did earlier in the season. Now that Javaris is gone, I hope that Farmar has not settled into a comfort zone or Mitch&Co. will bring in someone else in the off-season to push him again. Turiaf is in another funk, and is probably intimidated by Gasol being on the team. It's almost as if he's pressing to hard and not getting it done with that excess energy of his. It's peculiar, really, but they need to step it up. Radman has stepped it up, but he has done so as a starter (not off the bench), while only Sasha has been consistent coming of the bench. The bench was a strength before the trade, but now it's a weakness. Not a good thing.

[Lakerholic44]

Forgot to add.

IMO, the only way Walton can contribute on this team is if he plays within his strengths, starts to make smarter passes (by smarter I mean more simple passes instead of trying to be fancy all the time). Furthermore, he needs to find a consistent jumper, as he should not get any looks in the low post anymore with LA having Bynum, Gasol, Kobe, and Lamar on the squad. Heck, at this point, Turiaf is more dangerous in the low-post than Walton is.

[EiRON]

He's playing hurt, give him some time.

[Tesla]

He needs to heal, and basically sit out for a couple weeks imo. His injuries are reaccuring, and its just a sham. Then add that his confidence is basically that of a floating turd, and you have a pretty bad player.

Hopfully he will at some point (hopfully going into the playoffs) he will start playing like he did the start of last year.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

He's playing hurt, give him some time.

[Lakerholic44]

"He's playing hurt, give him some time."

That's an easy answer for his apologists.

If he's truly still hurting, then that's even more reason for him to play within himself instead of forcing shots, and making bad passes, as he's done since he came back. I can't remember the last guy that made bad passes or took so many ill-advised because they were hurt...unless his arms and or hands are hurting that bad. And if that's the case, he shouldn't be playing at all.

No, Walton's issues are much deeper than being hurt. Mentally, he doesn't have the moxie to play well when things are not going great for him all the time. That's a fact. And although, in general, he makes smart basketball plays he doesn't make them often enough to cover up for his overall weaknesses.

Also, like I said, the scouting report has caught up to him. Simply give him space and let him shoot all he wants from the outside and don't bite on his pump fakes. Simple as that, and I would like to see his apologist prove otherwise. Until he finds a consistent outside jumper (like he had in the early part of the 06-07 season), the rest of his game will continue to suffer...hurt or not, because his jumper has not been at all this season even when he was healthy.

[snaquille oatmeal]

when you see the guy literally grimsing when he is walking, limping when he is running you have to consider that you are not being an apologist and that the injury is affecting his decision making ability. Phil Jackson has a special watch for him to see if he is in to much pain to play.

on the other hand the "haters" have not noticed that since he came back from the hip injury his ankle injury has felt better and is not affecting him as much, yes he is still not up to par, but he is playing better than before the hip injury.