Will Luke Walton Be Fired?

I was reading on my cell phone this morning that Luke might be close to getting cut off. I hope not, give him a chance through this season, and if there is no improvement, then I can see where there might be other options. But please do not get McHale former hardcore Celtic and Laker hater.. That to me is a no brainer.

Luke is bringing along the team just fine, but Magic and Perlinka need to get him the right players where ever there are weaknesses. Right now we need a back up center BAD. Somebody mentioned Joakin Noah? Not sure if he is healthy or not, but he was good at defense and would always give 100% with the Bull's. Why he is not playing now? Not sure what happened to him, but I have not seen him in a while.

Reading where? Haven't seen any articles about that. Would like to read it.

Luke does not have the enough experience designing and employing defensive plays which is the main reason of opponents come back in the last quarter. The designing of defensive plays includes players rotations which Luke is so poor at. He always emphazise defense but what he cannot realize is, the play is as good as what he teaches and it seens he lacks the knowledge on this because his players cannot adjust immediately on plays if the opponents penetrate their set defense. This Laker team need a more experience coach to be respected by its players.

Luke under attack....LOL!!!

https://twitter.com/venicemase/status/1058420827119632384?s=21

And it has begun ladies and gentlemen. The end may be coming from Luke.

Magic Johnson seems to be running out of patience just after a handful of games this season, which doesn't really seem fair to Luke Walton. Added a poll- do you guys think Luke will be fired as Lakers head coach before the end of the season?

I think he could be fired, leaning towards yes. Magic said it would be rough at first for them but I never saw him as a patient, fair type when it comes to managing our team.

With that said, Woj’s article (The one he linked to) seems to suggest more that Magic is frustrated and wants to light a fire under the team, rather than “if you don’t win x amount of games in the next few weeks then you’re fired.” But I could be wrong, it wouldn’t be implausible for him to fire Luke out of a knee jerk reaction.

Luke’s rotations and roster management has been questionable and head scratching at times, but let’s also realize that he didn’t buy the groceries. Magic and Rob also need to explain the Beasley and KCPOOP signings. They let Randle walk and replaced him with those two duds. They have stockpiled duplicate talent. Hardly any variety and no center to back up McGee. Rondo signing is robbing valuable mins from Lonzo and also hurting the team in the wins/losses column.

No shooters? Are you kidding me!! Lebron has historically been successful when he’s been surrounded with shooters. If Lonzo is the best 3 pt shooter on your team, you know there is a problem. And kudos to Lonzo I’m really pleased the way he’s been playing, but you know what I’m trying to say.

This roster is not conducive to playing defense. When magic assembled this roster I feel he was only focused on the offensive end. And so far they have delivered on that end. Lol. The problem is on the other end. That’s where the bleeding is taking place. You can’t give someone a donkey and hope it would miraculously turn into a horse. LMAO. Horses for courses.

I think one of the answers should be maybe?....lol.....To me depends on a lot of factors.

https://twitter.com/ba_turner/status/1058473759319814144?s=21

On another note who leaked this meeting? Not a great look for Magic if he was the one leaking details.

I don't agree with some of decisions Luke makes, but as Magic (forum poster magic lol) said above, the roster is a freaking mess. You can't buy eggs and a can of dog food and ask a chef to make you a delicious breakfast lol.

As I said a few games ago, Magic will scapegoat anything and anyone to avoid any direct criticism of his actions. After luke it will be Ingram or Ball or perhaps even Pelinka. Dude is fake as they come.

Not disagreeing one way or the other, but basically the same team played pretty good defense last season with Luke coaching. When I watch team this year, I see a total lack of effort on defense. Looks like everyone is trying to impress LeBron on offense or feeling the pressure of playing with him.

Whatever the reasons are for poor defense, the "BUCK" stops at Luke. If he cannot control or discipline or motivate his players then this coach lacks capability to manage his people or his player does not respect him because they have sensed his lack knowledge of the game.

I felt like a similar situation with David Blatt. Perfect mentor for the young guys but when Lebron came it was over for him.

A lot of anologies from Tempy and Magiclakez. I hope Luke does not get fired. Give the man a chance to straighten this team up. He is a good coach. He proved that with a 24-0 start with the Warriors when Kerr was off with back problems.

But like I said at the start of the season. The Lakers will have a tough schedule for the first two months. They are facing teams that have been contenders for several years and did not make many changes, so their experience playing together makes a lot of difference.

That says it all. Period.

He is a coach killer, he can’t play within a system, yes he’s a great player but he has handicap organization after organization & got good coaches fired because he only knows 1 way to play

LeBron is upset with Luke’s so it’s not looking good for him and Magic came down on him but Magic sighed Beasley and KCP so there is plenty of blame to go around. Maybe they should fire Jim Buss again, I’m sure he has something to do with this!

I agree about those two signings..... terrible. However, ideally KCP is the exact “type” of player we need on this team ... but he is an under-performer. He is a 3 and D player who can’t seem to hit a 3 and doesn’t defend. Lol

Looking at Lebron's history, not a surprise at all. I guess.....Welcome Lue to the Lakers???? Lol

Lebron pretty much hinted it in his tweet right after Lue was fired by the Cavs.

I don't mind Luke getting fired but I would be pissed if it's just to bring in Lue.

We need experienced coach and someone who can stand up to Lebron. ok...that's not gonna happen but can we at least bring in someone who knows young talent development?

Luke is just trying to run golden states system,the only system he knows, even though we don't have the right players.

https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/1059272475614183424?s=21

Absolutely pathetic that a) Magic yelled at Luke b) he announced/ confirmed the yelling to the entire world.

I was under the impression that it was a meeting or rather a performance appraisal of sorts, but this is ridiculous. Who is going to yell at Magic for letting Randle walk and for signing weedhead Beasley and KCP?

Please keep stuff like this in house jackazz!!!

I was anti Kupchak with a passion, but he exhibited more class towards his players and coaches.

“We won’t be reactive to the ebbs and flows of the season.” But isn’t that exactly what he did?

Here is the lynchpin of this whole discussion: IS LeBRON OVER THE HILL? It is that simple. Did we get Karl Malone, Steve Nash or the over aged Kobe?

Opinions?

No he's not over the hill, if you're looking for LeBron to take games over like Kobe, MJ etc. He's not that kind of player, and has never been. He's more Magic, and needs shooters and players around him that can make baskets and open up lanes for him to get to basket. He's had a few 40 , 50 pt games in his career, but most of what he does Baad is get 25-30 ppg while assisting on 25- 30 pts to other players.

And as far as his defense, well he hasn't played consistent defense in a few years now.

He's on his way down the hill but still a very good player. I hate to say it but this team would be better operating out of the triangle offense. Lmao can't believe I'm saying this. LBJ could operate out of the post and conserve a lot of energy IMO.

No, but to anyone who has watched him over the year's, it was clear he wasn't in his prime. Which is the problem, you don't sign players to max deals after their prime years. You are paying for what they achieved not what they are going to achieve.

The roster and the play style that Luke wants to play is clearly not going to suit his play style either. Who in their right mind thinks they can play at such a high pace with a soon to be 34 year old, at 35 mins a night and still expect him to defend?

As for the roster, look at every team he has been on that has won a championship. An elite scoring guard (Wade/Irving), a big that would be a solid 2 on any other team (Bosh/Love) and 3 point shooters like Ray Allen and Korver.

Magic expects who exactly to be the wingman? Is McGee the star big man? Where are the 3 point shooters? The roster is not balanced and hasn't been balanced for years!

You guys fall for the hype and the smoke and mirrors moves Every.Single.Year. LBJ is here for the money and to build his brand for his post basketball career. Magic signed him to get the Lakers, and by extension himself back into the limelight.

LBJ is not the guy that's going to bring a championship here any time soon. Unfortunately that is the cold reality of where the Lakers are at.

Exactly Tempy, this team is not built to maximize what LeBron does best. Only player that seems to half way fit in with him is Kuz. Butler they paid him max money, so teams isn't a to have to change around him.

I think you go back to letting him be the point Forward he's always been, try to trade Rondo and KCP, bring Zo off Bench with 2nd unit, because he looks lost out there with LeBron inside game at same time. And yeah, they might have to trade a young player or 2 to get right balance around him. Shouldn't have signed himself if they weren't going to build team and system around him that got him to all those finals.

What puzzles me is what did the FO set for goals for the season?

They hoarded cap space and kept the youth so that suggested the season would be sacrificed so they could develop. Magic then goes on his tirade with Luke like they should be somehow contending or something, the whole situation doesn't add up. I just don't understand or see what path the franchise is on right now.

Think its all BS, think when Magic got LeBron he fully expected them to be doing better, but than says at being of season he knows teams LeBron has went to start slow. Think he knows that he F'd up with some of the vets he signed and now he's trying to find an out by getting on Luke so he doesn't take the blame. Also think they really thought they were getting PG13 ( still star chasing) , instead of building team slowly and developing what they have and had.

Said it before season ended last year to JJ, LeBron wasn't my 1st or 2nd choice player I'd sign for this team, but I didn't care either way, because I knew FO would sign him in a heart beat given the chance. Now they have no choice but to start to build team that adjusts to his strengths and style...smh

Also people keep saying give BI, Kuz, Zo etc. a chance to develop( not you just speaking in general) and that's fine, but develop to what ?? Because I don't see any Greek Freaks, AD, Tatum, Embiid, Simmons , Mitchell type talent level in them. Not saying they can't be good NBA players, just don't see great. And that's what makes LeBron wrong player and wrong time with the way this current team stands.

So after signing superstar to max money, they're still in rebuilding stage, maybe even back to square one. 155m dollar rebuild, Lmfao!!!

Well rookies typically break out in their 4th year, Randle being a great example of that last year. Part of development is obviously play time and learning from those game situations. I just don't see how Ingram or Ball can develop much while they stand around and watch LBJ lol. So how I would answer your question, develop to what?

We don't know and we can't find out if they are not given time to shine or fail. They are not in a position to grow or show any growth. Good luck getting anything of value in any trades because right now you will get cents on the dollar for either of them. It's just an all around impossible situation the FO have created.

https://twitter.com/WatchStadium/status/1059482978190065664

LeBron actually playing better defense than he did past season. And he still sucks. Lol

McGee might not be as good as he looks.

https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1059478194829574147

I’m not going to knock the front office for going out and getting Lebron. That’s a major accomplishment getting the best player on the planet. Let’s be real, we know how many teams would have created room to have him on the team. Philly with their young team also coveted him. He didn’t even give them a meeting. Lol. Houston wanted him quite bad. GSW would have made room to have him as well. So let’s not down play that. What I will knock them for is the subsequent signings /imbalanced roster and not surrounding him with shooters thus not putting him in a position to win. KCP? Beasley? Wtf? And letting Randle walk. They absolutely botched that.

Lebron is known to coast all the way until the ASB on the defensive end in recent times. If the front office didn’t know this they probably didn’t conduct their due diligence. Secondly Rondo is not what he was on the defensive end of the floor. You need to have more mins for Lonzo and Hart. They are not great but probably our best defenders on the team. Hart and Lonzo are bonafide 2 way players on our squad and are being under utilized IMO. You have one of the youngest teams in the league and there should be no excuse for lack of effort on the defensive end of the floor.

Yesterday’s game was the perfect example when we made a run with the young guns in the 4th quarter with Lebron and rondo on the bench. They actually defended quite well. Luke should stay, he has the guts to yank Lebron and knows how to manage his mins especially when he’s hurting them on defense.

Magic

I have no problem with them signing LeBron, although he wasn't my 1st choice, but I get why they did it. But it's like you and Tempy said, this roster is unbalanced. If your going to sign so- called best player, than you should be damn ready to put best team around that you possibly can to succeed. While Rondo has played great at times, still think they didn't necessarily need him. Watching that 4th quarter last night made me think that maybe they're better off with Zo leading 2nd unit, along with Hart and Kuz, they seemed more relaxed and played more freely. Let LeBron be LeBron, the point forward he's always been and run 1st unit , maybe let Lance, Rondo, McGee and " I ain't coming off bench " BI start. Lol

Still think young guys are feeling pressure of playing with LeBron and now all the outside expectations of being on a team that's expected to make playoffs. They need to get over it!!!

And your right ,no excuse for not making defensive effort with those young legs.

I say 6/10. Maybe.

LOL! The sky is falling, The sky is falling. i can sense pressure and panic on some fan favorites that thought it was great to sign LeBron. This was last season. And it it was the best thing for the Lakers to go through the draft and rebuilt. Well! the lakers done just that, and now some here want to trade the young draft picks. LMAO! The plan was never to win a championship this season, maybe next season when Kawhi or somebody of that caliber joins the KING. I never liked for Lebron to come to the lakers, but since I am a laker fan I decided that I would support the experts in this forum. Guys like Tempy, Gemfow, KKennon that seemed to know what this team needed. But I see panic on some of these experts and are pointing fingers which is really a bad thing. Give Kuz, Ingram, Ball and Hart a chance to mature. They are still very young, and I do agree that it takes at least four or five years to come into their prime. The coach can only do so much with what he has. Lebron was a mistake, but we are stuck with him for at least four years. I always kept saying to sign somebody in the age range of 25 to 28 if you really wanted a super star that can give you some good years of service. Lebron 33 years old and a big man usually their legs start giving way. Mother nature catches up with big men sooner then a lighter person. To trade any of our youth will be a big mistake. I told you guys the lakers would lose....

Axle

Depends on what you trade 1 or more for , if you can get an AD, Beal, Lillard etc. or another still young star , think you do it. I have no problem waiting and seeing what happens inside another year or 2, but what happens if you find you have a bunch of rotation players or just average starters?

Either way, just like I knew they'd sign LeBron given the chance, I think they'll trade players this season, including some of the core, if something comes up that makes sense to them.

And I never said I wanted LeBron , said a number of times he wasn't my 1st or 2nd choice, just knew FO would good after him, so it didn't matter what I or some others wanted.

We should have a fact checker for some of these quotes he pulls out of his a$$. No one that he mentioned EVER said they wanted LBJ and that he was going to be the answer to all the problems lol

Luke is not without his faults but Magic didn’t do Luke any favors with this roster. This roster is full or redundant talent and no sort of specialists. No dead eye shooter, no defensive specialist, no guy who does the dirty work.

The Lakers can’t keep certain teams off the boards because they have so many small forwards and not a single power forward on the team.

Sadly, I believe Magic is delusional because he felt this roster would be 8-2 by now instead of 4-6. This team has added four new guys, Chandler makes five new guys. The team has to find its identity and has to jell.

I can’t figure out why Magic picked up some of the players that he did and now it seems like he wants to point a finger at poor little Luke. What is a coach to do with this squad? Magic had better wake up and move some of these players, like Beasley and KCP to stare with!

The problem is if they trade they are taking on salary and that means no Max contract slot next summer. They can try getting someone in return who is on an expiring deal but that severely restricts the pool of players that could actually even make a difference.

No one wants to play here anyway. All I keep reading are stories typically titled, " _____ favors Clippers over Lakers." You fill in the blank. Clippers? Really? I feel like I'm losing my mind. I am really hoping for an Anthony Davis signing but I find that to be unlikely. Especially if we finish poorly this season. I will try to keep my hopes up.

Yeah I wonder exactly what it is. What stuff in the background is going on that makes the franchise so undesirable.

Older LeBron, plus players these days want to be the man. Also think some of them know if they come, they get the blame, not LeBron if things don't go right.

Don't think KD would come here, think he wants to beat LeBron in chips, not help him get more. If Klay left GS, hard for me to imagine that he wouldn't come to Lakers.

Personally I don't believe all these reports about Clips, but guess we'll find out in July.

Lot of players do not like playing with a super star like LeBron. He is a demanding athlete and a lot of young players or even other super stars do not want to be told. Other super stars do not want to be second best. Players like LeBron have had problems, that is why Kyrie left the Cav's. Kobe had the same problem getting other super stars to come and play with the Lakers. Kobe was an assassin on the court and many players felt intimidated. Some were afraid to take a shot and miss, so the ball would end up with Kobe and with time running out, he would have to force many shots because of the intimidation.

I noticed the last game against the Blazers, and when the Lakers had already given up the twenty point lead, I saw Rondo and he is not a super star, but he was almost screaming at Kuz and I do not remember if the other was Ingram or Hart, but I could tell that the young guys did not like Rondo yelling at them because they kept looking to the sides and not at Rondo. The pressure was on, and some players can not handle pressure that well.

So LeBron can be an intimidating figure. So players like Ingram should come off the bench and let Hart take his place as a starter. Josh Hart in my opinion plays more like a player that had been around the nba for a lot longer. Seems like he can handle the pressure a lot better.

On the pre game Mason and Ireland show a few games ago, they made it sound like West had a vendetta against the Lakers after they told him they weren't interested in bringing him back. Seems like he is out for revenge.

Wouldn't surprise me if true!!!!

Bottom line: In a three point NBA, you cannot win without a couple of marksmen. It is really that simple. Kuz is the only one who likes taking threes. The rest avoid it like the plague. Except for Pope but he needs glasses.

Magic: the League has changed. GET SOME FRIGGIN' SHOOTERS!

Magic said that the Lakes can win by making layups

I remember when stars didn’t want to come to the Lakes because of Kobe, now they have the same situation with LeBRON. Let’s not forget Bonds yelling at everyone, it just has to be a miserable place to be