Evaluating Lakers Head Coaching Candidates: David Adelman

The Los Angeles Lakers search for their next head coach is expected to take some time and there will be a number of candidates interviewed with differing levels of experience. The team is reportedly prioritizing experience, but there are a number of extremely intriguing options who have never been a head coach in the NBA before and perhaps the most promising is Denver Nuggets lead assistant David Adelman.

The son of former NBA head coach Rick Adelman, David has been an NBA assistant since 2011, joining his father’s staff with the Minnesota Timberwolves as a player development coach. He would remain on the staff through 2015, becoming an assistant under the late Flip Saunders after his father’s retirement.

Adelman would then spend a year with the Orlando Magic under former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel before joining the Nuggets in 2017. He has worked his way up to lead assistant under Michael Malone and played a big role in their run to the NBA Championship in 2023.

He certainly has done enough in Denver to garner the belief and confidence from his current players that will make an excellent head coach. The likes of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have all had great praise for him in recent years noting his excellent offensive mind and ability to make adjustments, as well as his overall demeanor on the bench.

Lakers candidate David Adelman’s strengths

Adelman is an offensive-minded coach, which makes sense as it was also his father’s forte. Many Lakers fans will remember those early-2000s Sacramento Kings teams in which Rick was the coach of and the constant ball and player movement they exhibited. Some of those same foundational pieces remain in David’s schemes but have been fit to this modern era. The Nuggets offense has been praised over the past few seasons and much of that comes from the mind of Adelman.

He also comes from a family of coaches as three of his six siblings are basketball coaches at some level in addition to his father Rick. David also has experience under a number of excellent coaches and has undoubtedly picked up things along the way from his father, as well as Flip Saunders, Vogel and Malone.

Lakers candidate David Adelman’s weaknesses

The biggest weakness for Adelman is obviously his lack of NBA head coaching experience. After the Darvin Ham hiring, the Lakers could be hesitant to go with another first-time head coach, even one as highly regarded as Adelman is.

Dealing with the spotlight that comes with the Lakers, as well as LeBron James, who has no problem challenging coaches if he feels they are not up to par, is difficult for the most experienced coaches, let alone one in his first job.

There will also be questions about his ability to field a good defense as he is known primarily for his offensive acumen.