The Los Angeles Lakers have not achieved their goals during the 2018-19 NBA season and despite dealing with a ton of injuries, head coach Luke Walton has shouldered the blame.
Walton was not only forced to deal with injuries to all of his key players but in the second half of the season, he was also forced to manage a roster full of players that knew the Lakers were openly willing to trade them for Anthony Davis.
The Lakers did everything they could to acquire Davis before the trade deadline. However, the New Orleans Pelicans were reluctant to trade him to his desired destination though and instead held onto him until the offseason.
Many believe that Walton is not expected to be brought back for the 2019-20 season after the Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
According to Bill Oram of The Athletic, it was also believed the whole Davis trade saga was a way for Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul to push Walton out of Los Angeles, but that does not appear to be the case:
At one point, some in Walton’s circles feared Paul was trying to use the Davis situation to leverage a coaching change, with the premise being that his arrival would require a higher-caliber coach. But the Lakers received backchannel information that Davis liked Walton and that relieved pressure on the third-year head coach.
The fact that Davis would be willing to play for Walton definitely helps his case, but the chances of him remaining the Lakers head coach beyond this season are still very slim.
Also, the chances of Davis ending up in a Lakers jersey by next season are also very slim, but a lot can change this summer after the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery and the Pelicans hire a new general manager.
