Darvin Ham was fired as Lakers coach, partly because players didn’t believe in his adjustments and teaching methods, partly as a scapegoat to cover up some poor roster-building decisions in recent years (GM Rob Pelinka cleaned it up as best he could, but the damage never was completely scrapped). The Lakers have gone through six coaches in the 13 seasons since Phil Jackson left the team. Who will be next to take on one of the league’s most difficult, yet premiere, roles?
Not Tyronn Lue or Jason Kidd. Or, at least, it is highly unlikely, despite their names appearing in rumors.
The reason is simple: both have a contract for another year with their respective teams and are not about to be fired, which is certain.something Marc Stein wrote about in his newsletter. In fact, both the Clippers and Mavericks are looking to extend their head coach beyond this year.
“Like I said, I want to be here. Hopefully we can solidify that…” Lue said when asked about Lakers rumors following the Clippers’ elimination from the playoffs by Kidd’s Mavericks. “I didn’t come to jump, walk everywhere. [Clippers owner, management] everything was great for me. Just have a great relationship with the owner, with the front office. It’s great. I would love to be here for a long time.”
Kidd is expected to receive an offer and sign a contract extension to remain in Dallas with Luka Doncic and a rival team, Stein reported.
Even if one of these coaches went to their respective teams and said they wanted to leave – which, to be clear, neither did, this is just a hypothesis – the Clippers and Mavericks would still have the coach under contract and wouldn’t let him go. walked out the door to a conference rival. In theory, the Lakers could try to trade for one of these coaches, but even if the Clippers/Mavericks don’t pull the plug, the price would be a few first-round picks. In the case of the Lakers, they need these picks more to retool the talent of LeBron James and Anthony Davis than they do to hire a coach.
What Lue and Kidd have in common are ties to LeBron, who is expected to opt out of the $51.4 million final year of his contract with Los Angeles. The Lakers desperately want to keep him — and most around the league expect him to re-sign in Los Angeles — and part of that is bringing in the coach he wants. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that the names were at least leaked – it’s a sign that the Lakers are looking and trying, even if the results aren’t realistic.
Other names mentioned as possible Lakers coaches include former NBA coaches Mike Budenholzer – who won a championship with the Bucks – and Kenny Atkinson. There will certainly be others.
Just don’t expect a team to hand over its star coach to the Lakers.
