An NBA coaching agent said the Lakers’ opening may not have the appeal that it once did after the team failed to qualify for even the play-in tournament, as relayed by Dan Woike and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
“Is the Lakers’ job that attractive?” the agent said. “I’m not so sure it is. But someone will take the job.”
At the very least, multiple candidates have already been linked the position, many by Woike and Turner.
Among the bigger names considered potential possibilities: Warriors assistant Mike Brown (story), ex-Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts (story), current Blazers assistant Scott Brooks (story) and Jazz assistant Alex Jensen (story).
Along with Brooks, Stotts, Brown and Jensen, Raptors coach Nick Nurse, Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Michigan coach Juwan Howard may also be on the Lakers’ radar, though it’s not known if any will become available or even have an interest in the position.
On top of that, former Warriors coach and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson has been linked to the job.
The Lakers parted ways with coach Frank Vogel immediately after the season. Vogel coached the team for three years, including the title in the 2019 Disney bubble. But he was unable to overcome the Lakers’ many injuries this past season, not to mention find cohesion for an older, clunky roster that featured LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
With GM Rob Pelinka given very little wiggle room, salary cap-wise, whoever coaches the Lakers next season very well could face similar challenges — making the job perhaps less appealing, as the agent suggested.
Nonetheless, it will still be coveted by those who are looking to return to the head-coaching ranks, and most of those listed fit such a profile. Plus, all the star power around LA and on the roster tend to make the Lakers’ the most-coveted coaching job in the NBA.
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