The Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search took an interesting turn on Monday morning with the report that they are aggressively pursuing UConn head coach Dan Hurley.
The favorite leading up to this point was JJ Redick, but he comes with obvious concerns as someone who has never coached before at any level.
Even though Hurley has not coached in the NBA, he is unquestionably one of the best in the college ranks today as the defending two-time National Champion. He is also known to have an exceptional offensive scheme, which even impressed LeBron James this past season.
Hurley seems to be seriously considering making the jump to the NBA as he already notified his team about the possibility. There definitely isn’t any doubt on the Lakers’ side as Dan Woike of the L.A. Times is reporting that they will officially offer Hurley the position:
The Lakers are planning to offer their head coaching position to Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley, according to people with knowledge of the team’s plans but not authorized to speak publicly.
The sides are expected to have increasingly serious discussions in the upcoming days, with the Lakers motivated to lure Hurley from college basketball.
This process is expected to happen quickly with both sides expected to meet on Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown:
“Dan Hurley, I’m told, is on his way to meet with the Lakers tomorrow. He’ll sit down with Rob Pelinka, their Vice President and GM, and Jeanie Buss, and they’ll start to dig into what a Hurley-Lakers partnership would look like. Hurley knows Rob Pelinka, they have spent time together in the past and talked basketball. But this is gonna be his first time meeting with Jeanie Buss and certainly the Lakers would love to get a deal with Dan Hurley wrapped up this weekend. I expect these talks will move quickly, there’s a lot of traction here between Hurley and the Lakers. But they certainly have more talking to do about whether there’s a fit here. Dan Hurley, back at Connecticut, has a chance obviously to win a third straight NCAA Championship.”
Even though Hurley’s name just popped up on Thursday, he has reportedly been at the forefront of the Lakers’ search all along. The Lakers are hoping to build a sustainable program and clearly believe Hurley is the right man to lead them moving forward.
If Hurley decides to stay at UConn though then L.A. would likely circle back to Redick, who is also said to have been impressive during the interview process.
Some within Lakers were ‘shocked’ by Dan Hurley news
The news of the Lakers pursuing Dan Hurley came as a shock to seemingly everybody, even some members of the organization.
Hurley’s name had not come up at all before this point but the Lakers obviously covet him if they are prepared to follow through with a lucrative contract offer.
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