The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for a new head coach has taken some interesting turns since JJ Redick was originally pegged as the frontrunner.
Despite their interest in Redick, the Lakers made a run at UConn head coach Dan Hurley, although they were ultimately unsuccessful. They offered a six-year, $70 million contract to Hurley, which wasn’t enough to get him to move west.
After failing to land Hurley, the Lakers shifted their focus back to Redick, who reportedly understood and accepted that the Lakers’ top choice wasn’t him. He still went forth with the interview process and continued to impress the Lakers brass along the way.
Redick’s relationship with LeBron James and known basketball IQ were known positives for the Lakers and it appears they have pegged him as their next head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
ESPN Sources: JJ Redick has agreed on a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Rob Pelinka offered job this morning and Redick’s started working on a staff to surround himself with experience. pic.twitter.com/G66eVFRALp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2024
Redick has never coached at any level so this is an obvious gamble for the Lakers, who are now on their seventh full-time head coach since Phil Jackson retired in 2011.
The hope is that Redick will have a similar impact to when Pat Riley took over in the 1980s, using his bright basketball mind, competitiveness and media savvy to transform the Lakers back into championship contenders.
Now that the Lakers have a head coach in place, the focus will shift towards putting a staff together, the upcoming NBA Draft and then free agency. The Lakers have a lot of tough decisions to make and will likely consult with Redick to see what his vision is for filling out the roster.
With Redick being the choice though, all parties involved likely feel confident that they will be able to re-sign James, which will be their first order of offseason business.
Potential targets for JJ Redick’s coaching staff on Lakers
With JJ Redick being the frontrunner from the beginning, he wasted no time trying to put his staff together as Rajon Rondo and Scott Brooks already emerged as potential targets.
Knowing Redick is going to be a head coach for the first time, the Lakers will likely look to surround him with a lot of experience on his staff. Brooks is a former head coach of both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards, making him a prime candidate to join a staff with Redick given his experience.
Rondo has never coached but of course was known as a high IQ player during his career and is obviously close with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
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