The Lakers spent the last week aggressively pursuing UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley, but after a week of courting and rumors, Hurley will remain in the collegiate ranks. That leaves the Lakers still in search of a coach with the NBA Draft just a little over two weeks away.
Now that the Hurley sweepstakes has ended, the Lakers plan to refocus on other candidates, with JJ Redick and James Borrego still on the list of potential coaches, per ESPN. Borrego has reportedly already interviewed with the Lakers, and L.A. is hoping to schedule its first formal interview with Redick.
Borrego is currently an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans, but prior to that served as the head coach of the Hornets for four years. Other names the Lakers were targeting before talks with Hurley heated up were Celtics assistant Sam Cassell, Nuggets assistant coach David Adelman, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori and Heat assistant Chris Quinn.
Before Hurley was the frontrunner for the job with the Lakers, Redick was seen as the top candidate, despite having no prior head coaching experience. Redick recently said that he’ll address the coaching rumors after he’s done calling the NBA Finals, and now that he’s potentially back in the race for the Lakers top job, that could become more interesting.
L.A. ideally hopes to install a head coach before the NBA Draft, where they’ll have to make some important decisions. The Lakers are viewed as favorites to draft Bronny James in the second round, pairing him with his father in purple and gold. Part of the allure of bringing in Hurley was the possibility of him developing Bronny, but with that now out the window the Lakers will have to ensure whoever is hired has a focus on player development.
The Lakers tried to swing for the fences with bringing Hurley in, but with a lowball six-year, $70 million deal the UConn coach said no. And now L.A. will have to hope it can find a comparable coach on the market to come in and lead it to success next season.
