The Cleveland Cavaliers will hire Luke Walton as an assistant coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Walton joins the staff of head coach JB Bickerstaff after spending more than five seasons as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
Walton, who played parts of his last two seasons as a player with the Cavaliers a decade ago, brings significant experience as a coach and championship player to a Cavaliers franchise on the rise in the Eastern Conference.
Under Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers achieved promotion from the conference to the play-in tournament. The Cavaliers’ young core, which includes All-Star shooting guard Darius Garland, forward/forward Evan Mobley and forward Jarret Allen, is expected to become Cleveland’s contenders for the conference’s elite next season. season.
Walton, who was fired after a 6-11 start with the Kings in November, was part of the NBA championship coaching staff with Golden State under Steve Kerr in 2015. He won two titles, 2009 and 2010, as a member of the Lakers.
Bickerstaff signed a long-term extension as coach of the Cavaliers in December.
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