After a disappointing first round exit, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to part ways with head coach Darvin Ham, opening up their third coaching search since 2019.
Going back to that 2019, the original favorite to land the job was Tyronn Lue, who won a championship alongside LeBron James as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. The Lakers and Lue were unable to come to terms on a contract, however, as a year later he took the L.A. Clippers head coaching job.
With the Lakers again having an opening, Lue’s name naturally came up as one of the top candidates. After the Clippers’ season ended, however, he said he was happy with that organization and hopeful to sign an extension.
The Lakers naturally shifted focus elsewhere for their coaching search, interviewing a number of other candidates such as JJ Redick, James Borrego, Sam Cassell and David Adelman.
Weeks had gone by though and Lue had yet to sign an extension with the Clippers, leaving some to believe a pathway to the Lakers was still open. That is not the case though as Lue has now agreed to that extension to stay with the Clippers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
LA Clippers coach Ty Lue has agreed on a new long-term contract that will make him one of the NBA’s highest-paid coaches, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank had been eager to secure Lue on a new deal, and negotiations with his agent Andy Miller of Klutch Sports reached a finalized agreement in recent days, sources said.
If Lue had become available then the Lakers surely would have be ready to pounce as he is the perfect candidate for their opening. Not only does he have a relationship with James, but he also is a championship-winning coach with a ton of experience, which reports have indicated L.A. is looking for.
With Lue no longer a possibility though, the Lakers will now need to look elsewhere for a new head coach with Redick considered to be the favorite. Borrego is scheduled for an in-person interview on Wednesday though so it will be interesting to see how that goes.
LeBron James not involved in Lakers’ coaching search
LeBron James has always been involved in the offseason decisions of his organization, but it appears that is not the case with this coaching search. It was recently reported that James will not be giving the Lakers input, although it’s fair to believe he will sign off on whoever they choose.
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