Lakers reportedly ramping up coaching search, showing interest in JJ Redick, Borrego and others

The NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week is when off-season negotiations between front offices start to get serious, and with that, that’s when the rumors start to emerge.

For the Lakers, that means intensifying their coaching search to find a replacement for Darvin Ham, something Adrian Wojnarowski spoke on ESPNadding that this will be a long process.

“Some names to watch out for in this search. James Borrego, the top assistant in New Orleans, they came from [ranked] 21, 22 strikes in the league last year for a top 10 strike… Borrego had a good campaign, his head coach in Charlotte went from 23 to 33 to 43 wins. He was obviously with Gregg Popovich for a long time in San Antonio. He will be a candidate in this process.

“Another candidate is someone who hasn’t coached, and that’s our colleague here at ESPN, JJ Reddick. He’s certainly someone the Lakers are looking into, they’re making calls and trying to understand what a head coach is. , that would be what coach JJ Reddick looked like.”

These are far from the only names floating around. Jovan Buha of The Athletic suggested that several key assistants are being considered: Micah Nori (Minnesota), David Adelman (Denver), Sean Sweeney (Dallas) and Chris Quinn (Miami). Another name mentioned around the league is Warriors assistant and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson.

One question to consider: Would the Lakers choose another first-time coach after Ham?

It’s possible that Redick is another Steve Kerr, someone who can quickly transition from the broadcast booth to a high-level coach (although Kerr was GM at Phoneix, he worked in the front office). It’s also possible that Redick is another Steve Nash. We’ll never know until he’s in place – and the same goes for qualified assistants like Nori and Quinn. It’s impossible to tell how someone will do the job until they’ve been doing it for a while.

Can the Lakers take the risk of finding out given LeBron James’ window, or do they need more familiar people like Borrego or Atkinson? (Tyronn Lue also falls into that group, but remains under contract with the Clippers, who are trying to extend him, and Steve Ballmer won’t let Lue leave to coach their cross-town rivals.) The Rob Pelinka Lakers’ pattern has been to react to the latest decision that didn’t work and turn 180 degrees, which would suggest that the Lakers gain experience. However, everything seems to be on the line at this point.

The only thing that seems certain is that this will be a long process.

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