No matter who won the decisive game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers were going to come out victorious. Los Angeles may have stopped playing in April, but the conclusion of the Golden State Warriors season means the Lakers new head coach Luke Walton's obligations as a Warriors assistant are finished.
According to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, the "Lakers expect that Luke Walton could be in the office as early as tomorrow." That's good news, because as Oram notes, the NBA Draft is on Thursday, just a few short days away.
Given that Walton has had little to no time for scouting college prospects during the Warriors' run to the Finals, he likely won't have a ton of input on who the Lakers select with either their second overall or 32nd overall pick. Still, it's undoubtedly a positive for the team that their new head coach can finally start to lock in on his new duties with free agency rapidly approaching following the draft, and Las Vegas Summer League not long after.
Walton will also have to finish assembling his staff, which as of right now will reportedly include Brian Shaw and Jesse Mermuys.
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