Though nothing has been made official, all signs continue to point towards JJ Redick as being hired as the Los Angeles Lakers’ next head coach. The Lakers are still going through their interview process with other candidates, but it is Redick who has emerged as the front-runner for the position.
Redick, of course, has no prior head coaching experience at any major level, which makes the construction of his coaching staff extremely important. Assuming he is the choice, it is imperative that Redick’s staff has some experienced coaches on it in order to help guide him in his early days as the head of the Lakers bench.
And there are many names already being rumored as potential pieces of the Lakers staff with some having been interviewed for the head coach job as well. According to Dan Woike of the L.A. Times, James Borrego and Sam Cassell are being targeted, as is former NBA coach Scott Brooks amongst others:
While Borrego had support behind his candidacy, he’s also coveted as an assistant coach should the Lakers ultimately hire Redick.
The team also has discussed filling out its bench with former NBA coach Scott Brooks, former Lakers staffer Greg St. Jean and former Lakers guard Rajon Rondo. The team is also interested in Boston assistant Sam Cassell, whom they spoke to about their head coaching vacancy, and Dallas assistant Jared Dudley.
It is certainly an intriguing group of names with varying levels of experience. Borrego and Brooks would both fulfill the role of a former head coach who can guide Redick through the day-to-day beats of being a coach in the NBA while Cassell is a long-time assistant with plenty of experience himself. Rondo, meanwhile, has no coaching experience, but is well-respected within the Lakers organization and is widely regarded as one of the most intelligent players in the history of the NBA.
Both Dudley and St. Jean are also familiar with the Lakers organization as well and there will surely be other names to pop up as additions to a potential Redick staff. The process for the Lakers remains ongoing, but it certainly looks as if the franchise is preparing for Redick to take over as head coach and is getting his staff in place for when that time comes.
Lakers hope JJ Redick can be long-term fit as head coach
While JJ Redick obviously doesn’t have the prior experience, the potential of him being an excellent coach is apparent and he is young enough to where he can have a very long career as a head coach. That is something the Lakers believe can be the case within the franchise as well.
A recent report noted that the Lakers hope Redick can be the ideal fit not only for the current version of the team, but also well into the future after LeBron James has retired and the team has moved on to another era of Lakers basketball.
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