The Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search seemed to be focused on JJ Redick and James Borrego early on, although the focus quickly shifted to UConn head coach Dan Hurley last week when news broke that he was a candidate.
The Lakers made Hurley a priority and were said to give him a massive offer, although after he took the weekend to mull it over, he decided to stay at UConn and chase a third straight National Championship.
While the Lakers’ courtship of Hurley was very public and it became clear he was their No. 1 option, their focus must shift elsewhere as they are still without a head coach. Who exactly they will turn to next remains to be seen, but according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, both Redick and Borrego remain viable candidates:
After a dogged pursuit of Hurley over past weeks, Lakers will regroup and resume bringing in candidates for interviews with hope of hiring a coach by Draft, sources said. James Borrego is expected to remain part of group and Lakers could do their first formal interview with JJ…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 10, 2024
It can’t be great for Redick and Borrego knowing they are at best the Lakers’ second-best choice. Head coaching jobs don’t come around too often though, especially with a prestigious organization like the Lakers, so both will likely remain interested in L.A. if they get the call.
Another potential candidate that recently came up was Jay Wright so it will be interesting to see if the Lakers shift their focus to him, although he has shown no indication that he wants to get back into coaching after retiring from Villanova a couple of years ago.
It’s possible that more candidates can pop up in the coming days, but with Hurley out of the picture, it definitely seems like Redick and Borrego’s job to lose given L.A.’s familiarity with them in this process.
Reported details on Lakers’ offer to Dan Hurley
It seems that the only way the Lakers could have gotten Dan Hurley to leave UConn was to offer him a contract he could not refuse. It was originally reported that their offer was north of $100 million, which may have enticed Hurley and his family.
As it turns out though, the Lakers offered him a six-year, $70 million contract, which was not a significant enough raise to move across the country and take on a new challenge in the NBA.
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