NBA Rumors: Luke Walton Trying To Lure Brian Shaw To Los Angeles Lakers

NBA rumors are swirling around Brian Shaw. Luke Walton wants to fill out his coaching staff before he officially joins the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Lakers Nation, his primary target right now is Brian Shaw.

Luke Walton has already signed a contract to become the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, though, he cannot start his new job just yet. His old job still needs him. Walton is the associate head coach of the Golden State Warriors. The team is still battling the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. If the Warriors make it to the NBA Finals, then the Lakers will have to wait even longer for their new head coach to show up for work.

In a little more than a month, the NBA Draft is going to be taking place. From now until then, executives and coaches are going to scouting all the college players that have made themselves available. Luke Walton cannot do that for the Los Angeles Lakers just yet. He would love to have someone to delegate that task to, which means that Lakers management wants to quickly hire an associate head coach.

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has stated that he wants to surround Luke Walton with a coaching staff that has experience as head coaches in the NBA. It’s a smart move because Walton has become a head coach for the first time in his coaching career. It would also help because Walton doesn’t have a lot of experience as an assistant coach, either. Brian Shaw fits the bill because he was once in charge of the Denver Nuggets.

Nate McMillan was surprisingly promoted as the head coach of the Indiana Pacers. He takes over for Frank Vogel, who was surprisingly released because he refused to run a higher tempo offense for the Pacers. McMillan is reportedly targeting Brian Shaw as his associate head coach, so the Los Angeles Lakers have some competition.

According to the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Lakers have already made an offer to Brian Shaw. The former NBA point guard has publicly stated that he has to make a decision in the near future. Apparently, Shaw has offers other than the one handed to him by the Lakers.

There are talks that Brian Shaw has an offer from the Golden State Warriors to become their new associate head coach, replacing Luke Walton in the role. Shaw contacted Steve Kerr last summer about replacing Alvin Gentry, who had left the Warriors to become the new head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Kerr turned down Shaw because he already had plans to promote Luke Walton to the job.

The Golden State Warriors might have an advantage over the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from being one of the most dominant teams in the NBA, the Warriors are a short commute for Brian Shaw, who lives in Oakland. He reportedly does not want to move his family again. Of course, his family can stay in the Bay Area while he commutes to Southern California for the Lakers job.

Earlier in the year, it was reported that team owner Jim Buss wanted to avoid hiring coaches that had close ties to Phil Jackson. There are rumors floating around that Jackson was going to be leaving the New York Knicks and returning to the Los Angeles Lakers as a high-ranking executive. Luke Walton and Brian Shaw are both closely connected to Jackson.

Brian Shaw is more than likely going to be back with the NBA next season. The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping that he’s going to do it with them.