According to ESPN.com, there have been rumors floating around the league that Luke Walton is available. The following was posted in the Weekend Dime.

Even the mighty Lakers aren’t averse to cutting payroll. That would explain the occasional rumblings I’ve heard this season about Luke Walton, one of Phil Jackson’s long-standing favorites in L.A., being made available via trade.

Shopping might be too strong a word, but the reality, in this economy, is that moving Walton would be difficult no matter how motivated the Lakers were. Walton is a role player scheduled to earn $21.6 million over the next four seasons after this one.

Yet I also suspect that Jackson isn’t too disappointed that the 28-year-old is still around, no matter how much financial sense it makes for the Lakers to make Walton available, with the emerging Trevor Ariza up for a new contract in the summer and L.A. perennially possessing one of the league’s highest payrolls.

Walton earned just 58 minutes of PT in the Lakers’ first 20 games, but he’s made eight starts in December, including a 28-minute stint in the Lakers’ Christmas Day victory over the Celtics. Because he keeps the ball moving, provides consistent energy and knows the system — much of that in stark contrast to the unpredictable Vladimir Radmanovic — Walton has suddenly reclaimed a prominent spot in Jackson’s rotation.