<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Luke Walton reached agreement Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers on a six-year, $30 million contract after general manager Mitch Kupchak placed a call one minute after midnight to express the team's interest in retaining its best unrestricted free agent. "They called at the earliest possible moment, and we worked on it all day," agent Lon Babby said. "They wanted him back, and Luke wanted to be there. We wanted to make every effort to get an agreement before we went out and looked at any other teams."</div> Source Still going to S&T for Artest?
Lakers Re-Sign Luke Walton <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Luke Walton reached agreement Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers on a six-year, $30 million contract after general manager Mitch Kupchak placed a call one minute after midnight to express the team's interest in retaining its best unrestricted free agent. "They called at the earliest possible moment, and we worked on it all day," agent Lon Babby said. "They wanted him back, and Luke wanted to be there. We wanted to make every effort to get an agreement before we went out and looked at any other teams."</div> Source: ESPN Great deal for the Lakers, $5Million a year for Luke is a bargain.
Ha, I made my thread first shape. You can delete that one if you want. It's a good sign, but will we still use Luke as a bargaining chip in a trade, specifically Artest?
Eh, whatever. I'm not down on this, but I'm definitely not high on this. Luke started hot, got hurt, and then sucked like usual. The only positive about him is his ability to handle the ball and his court vision, whatever though. He better not be a starter, he'd be a nice 6th man. Could this be a sign Lamar is on his way out? Free agency negotiation just started and he was locked up quick.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Eh, whatever. I'm not down on this, but I'm definitely not high on this. Luke started hot, got hurt, and then sucked like usual. The only positive about him is his ability to handle the ball and his court vision, whatever though. He better not be a starter, he'd be a nice 6th man. Could this be a sign Lamar is on his way out? Free agency negotiation just started and he was locked up quick.</div> I hope so, I really like Walton better than Odom I dont get why so many Laker fans are so high on Lamar he is horse **** his game is one limited for someone who is hyped as versatile and do it all he s**ks! Ship his a** out too, and as far as Luke I really liked him until he got owned by Kenny from sacramento he basically exposed his weakness at defending stronger forwards... What about Kenny can we get him? (I forgot his last name sorry)
Kenny Thomas? Lamar is versatile, but I agree, his versatility is far more hype than reality. Especially on offense, he's handicapped. He can't go to his right, everything he does is to his left. That's why he is so inconsistent, people know what to expect from him. His jumper is ugly as all hell, and a lot of the times he can't finish the play in the paint, but either way, that's why he struggles to maintain his 18-22 point efforts. However, I'd take Lamar over Luke any day of the week. Luke's slow, soft, just as injury-prone, and his offense most of the time is down right quesy, but I love how he can control the tempo and his play making abilities, that's why I don't mind us re-signing him. We just better have a deal in place, because if Luke is the starter again, I'll hate this signing.
I like Luke better then Odem he plays alot smarter and helped the team out more IMO. Lamar is the better player but you never know when he is gonna show up.
I found Luke much more inconsistent than Lamar. When injured, I find Lamar to be a much more competent and able injured player than Luke. Also, Lamar's d isn't great, but it isn't as bad as Walton's. I don't see it is even reasonable to believe that Walton is better than Lamar for the team. Both are inconsistent, both are wishy washy shooters, however, Odom is the superior ball handler, scorer, rebounder, about equal in passing abilities, and Odom is the better defender. Walton got a lot of hype this year, because he came out hot. However, he got injured, and when he got healthy he returned to his inconsistent, very average self. I found myself getting sick of him. I'm just glad we didn't over pay for him.
Yea it's a great thing that the Lakers re-signed Luke Walton. He's a pretty good player and helps the Lakers when their stuck.
Walton<Odom agreed but if we take salary into account and value then its the other way around... honestly though if Walton knowing the triangle was a huge part of getting him resigned it doesnt make sense because I doubt Jackson comes back after next season and in that case I highly doubt the Lakers are still running the triangle after that.
good for luke, cause i really dont think he'd flourish on other teams. he thrives under phils system.
Luke is a perfect role player. If we want to go back to the "championship" years, he's just the type of role-player that is required. He brings alot to this team without getting much attention.
Luke is a systematic role player, not a perfect role player. He would struggle in most offensive sets...I mean, look at him when Rudy T. was our coach. He didn't get any PT because he was just outright terrible.
I think his poor play was more to do with him still being fairly new to the NBA level, it's not like he flourished under Phil Jacksons first reign as manager.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Source: ESPN Great deal for the Lakers, $5Million a year for Luke is a bargain.</div> i 2nd that! i thought we were going to sign him for 6M or above a year
<div class="quote_poster">bruin007 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Walton<Odom agreed but if we take salary into account and value then its the other way around... honestly though if Walton knowing the triangle was a huge part of getting him resigned it doesnt make sense because I doubt Jackson comes back after next season and in that case I highly doubt the Lakers are still running the triangle after that.</div> Even if Jackson doesn't comeback, Kurt Rambis or Brian Shaw will likely take over as headcoach, and both would run the Triangle. This is the first "WIN NOW" move the Lakers have accomplished in the offseason.
Good move by the Lakers, and for a solid price in my opinion. He's a very solid role player, he just needs to stay a little more consistent as far as scoring goes and needs to stay healthy this year. When he went down, the Lakers plummeted.