Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac still has faith in head coach Luke Walton as he continues to navigate an injury-riddled roster in his first season manning the Kings bench.
Divac–who hired Walton after firing former head coach Dave Joerger last summer–said he and Walton are “one the same page” with respect to the direction of the franchise (via Jason Jones of The Athletic).
“I’m very happy to work with (Walton),” Divac said. “We are on the same page. Obviously, he’s trying different lineups, different styles, dealing with the shortened roster. So I really cannot judge him for anything until he has a full roster, but I’m happy about how he does things in practice, even in the games. We’ve lost a lot of close games with the roster being shorter. It’s a tough job for him.”
The Kings are currently five games back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Although they have won six of their last eight games to stay in the conversation.
Divac's decision to fire Joerger was puzzling at the time. After all, Joerger was coming off a season in which he led the Kings to their most wins (39) since the 2005-06 season.
Things looked even bleaker after the Kings got off to a rough start. In Walton's defense, however, Marvin Bagley III has hardly seen the floor this season. While De'Aaron Fox has also missed extended time due to injury.
Sacramento, much like the New Orleans Pelicans, elected to retain potential assets–such as Bogdan Bogdanovic–in the hopes of a potential playoff run.
In any case, Walton's job appears safe…for now.
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