With the NBA Draft just a week away, the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search seems to be nearing its conclusion with ESPN analyst JJ Redick remaining the frontrunner.
Redick interviewed with Rob Pelinka and the Lakers brass this past weekend, and all signs have pointed toward him being the franchise’s next head coach.
While that may be the case, the Lakers have still yet to officially offer the position to Redick, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday evening::
“That’s right, Scott. They’ve only offered the job to Dan Hurley and then the Lakers pivoted back to JJ Redick, who what Rob Pelinka had at the Combine was kind of a 9-minute, get to know you, not digging real deep but just talking. And then they brought him to L.A. last weekend and he went through the more formal interview process. Redick has talked with Rob Pelinka since then, I know Pelinka has talked with another candidate or two since Redick’s interview this week. But what is really left for the Lakers and JJ Redick at this point is for the Lakers to make an offer, which they haven’t quite done yet.”
Wojnarowski added that having a coach in place by the June 27 draft isn’t a requirement although it is a goal of the Lakers’:
“Yes and no, Scott. It’s not quite like the NFL where you have to have your coach in place for the draft where you’re gonna draft players built on that coach’s system. Detroit probably won’t have a coach by the draft, but it is important, it is the Lakers’ goal. And listen, they are focused right now on JJ Redick. JJ Redick is a different hire than Dan Hurley would have been, I think JJ Redick certainly knows the NBA better than Dan Hurley. Dan Hurley knows how to coach a team, build a coaching staff, all the things that go into head coaching that even at the college level translate. So I think for JJ Redick and the Lakers, what does a Redick coaching staff look like? All of those are certainly important elements you want to have in place if you’re going to bring him in. But right now, JJ Redick is at the forefront of this and again, really all that is left for L.A. to do is to offer the job to JJ Redick, that hasn’t quite happened yet.”
It’s unclear why the Lakers haven’t yet offered the position to Redick and if they are still considering other candidates. It could have to do with still contemplating how many years and how much money to offer, or someone in the organization could be getting second thoughts about the idea of hiring someone that has never coached.
Redick wasn’t the Lakers’ first choice, after all, with them offering the job to Hurley and him turning them down.
Lakers have competition for JJ Redick?
If the Lakers don’t make an offer to JJ Redick soon, he may consider other options with him already being linked to the Detroit Pistons, who fired their head coach Monty Williams on Wednesday morning.
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