[Tobe BryantParticipant]

No explanation needed. Get that bad contract off your books.

[torontoraptors10Participant]

His back is OK, but it’s painful for Lakers’ Luke Walton to sit

LAKERS FYI

Walton, who has only appeared in nine games this season, says it has been difficult watching from the bench.

• 

Lakers forward Luke Walton says it has been tough watching the team’s… (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

March 07, 2012|By Mike Bresnahan

Reporting from Washington — He has won two championship rings and played in two other NBA Finals.

Luke Walton doesn’t know what to do these days.

"This is my ninth year, and this is probably the toughest one," the Lakers forward said.

He’s the forgotten man of the Lakers, idling at the end of the bench in the first year of the Mike Brown era.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lakers have played 39 games. Walton has appeared in nine, lowest on the team.

"The last couple of years, my back’s been hurting so I couldn’t really complain about [playing time]. My back actually feels good this year," he said. "Not having an opportunity to help the fellas has been real tough. When we practice and I can hang out with the guys, and travel, everything’s great. It’s game days where I find it real hard to fall asleep at night. That’s when it gets difficult.

"But it’s out of my control."

Walton, who turns 32 later this month, is averaging 1.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 7.2 minutes. He approached Brown about his minutes a "couple of times," Walton said.

"He tells me that he likes where we’re at and if things change, then maybe my opportunities would change," Walton said. "There’s nothing I can really do about that."

The Lakers’ lack of ball movement frustrates Walton, who is known as a pass-first player.

"I feel like a lot of the times when we’re not playing well, that’s what we’re not doing," he said. "Our offense gets stagnant. That’s why we allow teams that don’t have as much talent as us to compete with us. That was my pitch [to Brown] on how I could help this team."

Walton understands that he makes a good living, taking home $5.7 million this season and $5.8 million next season, the final part of the six-year, $30-million contract he signed in 2007 after averaging a career-high 11.4 points.

He’d like to feel he was earning it.

"I want to play, badly," he said. "Basketball is the biggest part of my life and that’s what I really, thoroughly enjoy doing."

SOURCE: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/07/sports/la-sp-lakers-fyi-20120308

 

[TyroberParticipant]

 Be a waste to use your amnesty right now on him. The tax hits hard in a couple of years so they should save it and use it then if they even need too. You still have to pay the player. There is a reason its only been used a few times.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 And use the money for what? You still have to pay out the contract, so you don’t save money from amenstying a player (unless someother team picks up the player). They might need the contract to make another trade work or later to trade it to a team that has an even longer worse contract and wants Walton’s expiring contract. 

Lakers are probably still hoping out that they can do a Dwight for Bynum trade. Until that is clearly off the table, they are going to keep all their pieces in reserve.

[dazeoneParticipant]

He was always garbage …why they kept him, let Ariza walk, and got rid of Famar and is beyond me …especially now that D Fisher is older.

[niQParticipant]

I’m pretty sure the period to use the Amnesty has passed. Teams will have to wait until next season before considering who to use the Amnesty Clause on.

[PabloFiascoParticipant]

Yea that period expired before the season started. They gotta wait until the offseason….

[NYCrealdealParticipant]

about the amnest rule. can teams use one every year, or no? and can the team use the amnesty clause again once the prevous amnesteed players contract is over?

[GrandmamaParticipant]

I can’t believe that guy got a 6yr/30mil contract…wtf??

[M-DYMESParticipant]

0h s0 his back is why he didn’t get much PT.  All this time I just th0ught it was because he was Luke Walt0n.  My mistake.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Each team gets one Amnesty, period. And it has to be on a contract that was signed before the collective bargaining agreement was signed. So if you don’t use your amnesty soon, all the contracts will have run eventually. 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

"I can’t believe that guy got a 6yr/30mil contract…wtf??"

This is what great players do. Players like Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, etc, etc. They get players paid.

 

[HitsterParticipant]

The Lakers will probably hold fire as Walton will be an expiring deal next year and still have Artest/MWP under contract until 2014 so the amnesty may be useful later on. They cannot use it I believe until the summer so with all the trade rumours going on they probably want to hold fire on it to see what use it might be.

Would Walton be signed by another team I do wonder so any saving there may also be limited.

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

Players like walton, brad miller (…) are not useless in a roster even if they are not productiv while they are well paid.

You can say they are overpaid but they are usefull : they are experienced, they know the game, they know the strategy and gameplan of their team/coach, they can help young prospects to develop their game and their professional behavior (pekovic, ebanks).

Those kind of players are very interesting in a roster : they bring more than figures and stats.

[Author]

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