The Golden State Warriors are optimistic Steve Kerr will be back on the bench as head coach soon.

“More and more, the further we go into the season,” Luke Walton said Wednesday of Kerr’s involvement at the end of his longest road trip of the season. “It’s daily talks now that he’s with us on the road. It’s matchups. It’s bouncing ideas off of each other. Besides not being the coach on the bench during games, he’s very much involved in the decisions and the prep work.”

Kerr started a leave of absence on Oct. 1.

“He does look a lot better lately. It’s great having him on the road, and you can see his energy looks better.”