There are a lot of things on the checklist for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, but one of the first and most important is finding a new head coach. The Lakers dismissed Darvin Ham and finding the right person for the job is imperative to the success of this team as they continue to try and reach that championship level.
There have already been some names thrown around in the few days since Ham was let go and many are anxious to see who the Lakers are targeting. However, those expecting an announcement soon will have to reel in expectations.
According to Dan Woike of the L.A. Times, the Lakers are still in the early stages of their search and are expected to take their time in finding the franchise’s next head coach:
As of midweek, the team is still in the early stages, with both internal team sources and external coaching sources describing the Lakers as “taking their time.”
This should be expected as the Lakers should be exploring all possible options and do thorough and extensive interviews on numerous different candidates in order to ensure they find the right man for the job.
Last time, the Lakers landed on Ham, who was a first-time head coach. But according to Woike, there is some belief that the team will go the opposite route and target someone with experience this time around:
In conversations with sources over the last few days, there’s a strong sense the Lakers are putting a premium on experience in this search — following trends where the Lakers have course-corrected from one decision by doing a version of the opposite.
Names like former Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, current Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson have been mentioned as possibilities and have plenty of experience. However, even though that may be ideal, the Lakers aren’t limiting themselves to just former head coaches and will still be open to other candidates with differing experience levels:
But while there’s a desire to find someone with experience, the Lakers, sources say, aren’t solely focused on that and seem to be open to speaking with candidates from multiple coaching pedigrees.
JJ Redick has been a popular name linked to this job despite having no prior coaching experience. There is also some buzz around Denver Nuggets lead assistant David Adelman, who has been an NBA assistant since 2011 but never a head coach.
There are many different possibilities the Lakers could go within this search and it looks as if they will take a long look at all of them.
Lakers’ LeBron James ‘bristled’ at Darvin Ham’s minute restrictions to start season
There were different criticisms levied at former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham throughout the season, but one thing that had been forgotten was his attempt at a minutes restriction for LeBron James. This was the case to begin the season and it reportedly didn’t sit well with the Lakers superstar.
A recent report noted that LeBron ‘bristled’ at the idea of being put on any type of minutes restriction, even though it was meant to preserve him for the entirety of the season. Regardless, the restriction didn’t last long and was eventually dropped as the Lakers needed LeBron on the court more to win games.
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