Houston Rockets ask to interview Luke Walton

It's like the old saying goes: if you can't beat them, hire them.

Okay, that's not quite how it goes, but the Houston Rockets' move to interview Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton follows the sentiment. The Rockets asked for and received permission to interview Walton for their head coaching job after he helped the Warriors eliminate them from playoff contention on Wednesday, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.

The Rockets' request to court Walton comes on the heels of the Lakers attempts to do the same, something that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr announced that they would have permission to do following the conclusion of the Warriors' first-round series against the Rockets.

Walton appears to be the frontrunner for the Lakers' open head coaching job, but it sounds like at least one prominent member of the Rockets is already trying to sway him towards joining Houston, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN noticed after the Warriors finished off the Rockets on Wednesday:

@MarcJSpearsESPN reports Rockets received permission to speak to Warriors Luke Walton. Harden hugged Walton after the game.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) April 28, 2016

The Lakers may have competition for Walton's services now, so if he really is their top option, they should probably move quickly to attempt to woo him into signing on before another team does so. However, Walton could still opt to take his time to decide on his future, especially with his father advising him not to take the Lakers' job.

When Walton will interview with either team remains to be seen, so stay tuned to Silver Screen and Roll for updates on the ongoing coaching searches around the NBA.

You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.