Shortly after ending negotiations with former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, the Los Angeles Lakers met with former Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel.
As Vogel was first brought up as a potential lead assistant coach on Lue’s coaching staff, it appears he impressed the Lakers in his first interview.
With Vogel considered the frontrunner for the team’s head coaching job now, former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd reportedly remains a ‘strong candidate’ to join his coaching staff.
Since the Lakers are looking to pair Vogel and Kidd together, general manager Rob Pelinka gathered information on how they would complement each other, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has spent the past few days gathering information from those who have worked with both Vogel and Kidd about how they believe those two could complement each other on a Lakers coaching staff, league sources said.
Based on Kidd’s history, Vogel should be concerned if he accepts the head coaching job. When former Bucks head coach Larry Drew was still employed during the 2013-14 NBA season, Kidd was angling for his job and was eventually hired where he coached there for 3.5 seasons.
With this latest development, it appears the Lakers are comfortable moving forward with Vogel as head coach and Kidd as an assistant coach.