Lakers coach Luke Walton is doing the 76ers a big favor

It looks as if Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton is doing his best to make sure the 76ers finally get their hands on the first-round pick L.A. has owed them for two years.

Back in 2015, the 76ers acquired a first-round pick that the Lakers had sent to the Phoenix Suns as part of the three-team deal in which Michael Carter-Williams went to Milwaukee.

That pick was top-5-protected in 2015 and top-3-protected in 2016 and 2017, which meant that the Lakers would keep the pick in those years if they finished that high up in the draft lottery. They did just that in both years, landing the No. 2 selection each time.

At the moment, the Lakers look as if they could be headed in that direction again, as they have the second-worst overall record in the NBA at 16-33. Their leading scorer is former Sixers guard Lou Williams, who's averaging 18.2 points per game coming off the bench.

In Philadelphia, this would be considered a decent year of tanking. Walton wants no part of it.

"I don't believe in it," Walton told the Los Angeles Times this week. "You start losing on purpose, I think the basketball gods come back to get you in the long run. ... We try to do things the right way around here, which means we're going to play to win."

Some people might say playing to win isn't necessarily the right way to do things in the NBA, and they might be right. But it's a safe bet that 76ers fans will be perfectly happy if the Lakers win a few more games, and improve the odds that they'll lose that high pick to Philadelphia.

Walton seems OK with that.

"I would prefer not to be stuck in the lottery for very long," he said.

"They look like they're doing pretty well right now," he added about the Sixers, "but they're still a long way from being a true contender."

Just about all of Philadelphia would reply that Walton might want to look in the mirror.