The Los Angeles Lakers search for their next head coach must continue on after Dan Hurley rejected their $70 million offer in favor of remaining at UConn. Who the team’s top choice would be at this point remains anyone’s guess, but one thing that is for sure is that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office need to move quickly on their guy.
With the NBA Finals already underway, it is only a matter of time before the offseason really gets going. That begins with the 2024 NBA Draft, followed by free agency, and the Lakers want their coach in place by the time this kicks off.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers would prefer to have their head coach in place by the time the NBA Draft takes place on June 26:
“There may be another name or two with the Lakers, they’ve brought in and interviewed a number of coaches already. They’ll go back to that pool, I’m told they’d like to try to have a coach by the draft, which is June 26.”
It makes complete sense that this would be the preference of the Lakers as they would want to make sure any roster additions fit the style of whomever the next head coach is and if there is no head coach in place, that’s not possible.
The question now is simply who do the Lakers turn to now that Hurley is off the table. Prior favorites JJ Redick and James Borrego will surely be mentioned as possibilities again, but there is no guarantee they are still interested, particularly in the case of Borrego, who is being strongly considered for the Cleveland Cavaliers job.
It will be up to Pelinka and the Lakers front office to do whatever is necessary to have their coach in place so that they can have their say during the offseason and set themselves up with the right roster to make a run next year.
Lakers have no clear Plan B in place following Dan Hurley rejection
Apparently, even the Lakers organization themselves are unsure which route to go after Dan Hurley made his decision to remain at UConn.
The latest report claimed that there is no clear Plan B in place for the Lakers following Hurley’s rejection of their deal. The team reportedly may turn back to previous candidates they’ve already interviewed or they could start from scratch completely and bring in more potential candidates until they land the right person for the job.
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