Sacramento Kings to interview Luke Walton

The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to publicly make a final decision on whether or not to retain head coach Byron Scott, but in the interim could be missing out on desirable candidates for the potential vacancy. Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton is one of those candidates after leading the Warriors to a 39-4 record in his head coaching debut when stepping in as interim head coach while Steve Kerr recovered from back surgery earlier this year.

Walton reportedly spoke with Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks earlier this week, and he has now been linked to another open job. The Sacramento Kings are 'expected' to meet with Walton about their head coaching job when he has a break from his Warriors obligations, according to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.

The Kings fired George Karl following the season last week, and will reportedly look at an extensive list of candidates, including Walton, to fill the opening. Voisin reports that list will additionally include former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, who also has interest in the Lakers job.

While the Kings mostly making headlines for organizational dysfunction in recent years would seemingly be a deterrent to their ability to get Brooks or Walton, Voisin reports that the job could appeal to either of them for another reason:

The location always has appealed to Brooks, who grew up in Manteca, and increasingly to Walton, a San Diego native who enjoys living in Northern California and has several close relatives in the Sacramento area.

Whether that love of the area is enough to entice either Brooks or Walton is an open question, but it does leave the possibility that the Lakers will be left without one of their top options if they do part with Scott.

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