The Los Angeles Lakers have turned back to JJ Redick in their search for a head coach, not even a week after being denied by UConn’s Dan Hurley, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
They are expected to interview Redick this weekend, Woj added, and Redick again could become their frontrunner.
Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported that the Lakers had been zeroing in on Redick before the Hurley news seemingly emerged from nowhere.
Redick spoke with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka for more than an hour in May at the NBA Draft Combine. Pelinka has also explained to Redick why the Lakers chose to pursue Hurley, Wojnarowski added.
Along with Redick, the Lakers have mostly been linked to New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, who interviewed with the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the week and is said to be their top candidate.
Meanwhile, one NBA executive told Hoops Wire that Hurley used Wojnarowski and the Lakers as leverage to get more money from UConn.
The exec said Hurley “was never going to leave UConn” and that he used his relationship with Wojnarowski and the “Lakers name” to get an increase in his salary from Connecticut.
The Lakers turned their attention to Hurley after word got out that Hurley was in extension negotiations with UConn. Los Angeles reportedly offered Hurley a six-year, $70 million contract.
While Hurley was impressed by LA’s presentation during his interview, he was never seriously going to leave the powerhouse program he built at UConn, the NBA exec told Hoops Wire.
Redick, 39, spent 17 seasons as an NBA shooting guard and currently serves as a broadcast analyst for ESPN and ABC.
Ashish Mathur contributed to this report.
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