Now that the Los Angeles Lakers have a head coach in place with the hiring of JJ Redick, the next order of business will be filling out his staff.
Given Redick’s lack of experience, the Lakers have been clear that they want to surrounding him with a quality staff that includes at least two former head coaches. That should help Redick with the transition to coaching considering he has never sat in that seat before.
One name who has constantly popped up is Scott Brooks, who is a former head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards. In addition to Brooks, both Dwane Casey and Jacque Vaughn are names the Lakers have pursued, per NBA insider Marc Stein:
The Lakers are still searching for former head coaches to join JJ Redick’s coaching staff. Among the names they are said to have pursued: Dwane Casey (who moved into a front office role in Detroit after coaching the Pistons for five seasons through 2022-23) and Jacque Vaughn (who was fired by the Nets after just a year-plus in charge in February).
Both Casey and Vaughn would be terrific additions for Redick given their experience as head coaches. Casey was the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005-07, Toronto Raptors from 2011-18 and most recently the Detroit Pistons from 2018-23.
Vaughn has also been a head coach in a couple of different places, first with the Orlando Magic from 2012-15 and then the Brooklyn Nets from 2022-24 before being let go earlier this year.
While it remains to be seen who else will become available, it will be hard to find better options than Casey and Vaughn to help Redick in his first coaching gig.
What JJ Redick is looking for with Lakers coaching staff
At his introductory press conference, JJ Redick discussed what he will be looking for in his coaching staff.
“We are completely aligned in that the front of the bench should have experience. We definitely want at least a couple former head coaches in the NBA there. Behind the bench we want young, hungry, innovative, fresh, self-doers, self-motivated, that’s what we want behind the bench. There’s gotta be that balance. You’ll hear me talk about duality all the time, I want that duality, I do.
“In terms of the voice, in terms of the disagreement or the yes men, I certainly want people to disagree with me. I certainly want to have conversations about strategy, game-planning where there is disagreement and we can talk through it. The key part is that there is one voice. If I say it and then an assistant coach goes and delivers the message, it’s me saying it. I think that’s the big part. There has to be a level of trust, collaboration, all that stuff. But the disagreement has to exist too.”
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