There were a lot of questions surrounding JJ Redick when the Los Angeles Lakers hired him as the team’s new head coach last offseason. But throughout the season, he answered many of those questions, leading the Lakers to the third seed in a packed Western Conference and proving himself to be one of the most promising young coaches in the league.
After firing Tom Thibodeau this summer, the New York Knicks are now looking to find their long-term answer at head coach as well and have asked a couple of teams for permission to speak with their head coaches as well. Jason Kidd, Chris Finch, Quin Snyder, Ime Udoka and Billy Donovan were all on the Knicks’ list, however they were denied permission to speak with them by their current teams.
It doesn’t look like Redick will be one of those potential options, however, as according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Lakers coach was one of many high-profile coaches whom the Knicks didn’t request permission to speak with:
For the sake of additional context, I spent part of Wednesday evening trying to figure out which other current head coaches the Knicks might have attempted to contact. And while there were no new names revealed, it’s worth sharing that league sources say the Knicks did not request permission to speak to this high-profile coaching crew: The Pacers’ Rick Carlisle, the Warriors’ Steve Kerr, the Bucks’ Doc Rivers, the Clippers’ Ty Lue and the Lakers’ JJ Redick.
The Knicks likely knew they would be denied permission by each of these teams or that these respective coaches had no interest in leaving where they were at to go to New York and thus, didn’t even waste their time. Having interest in Redick after his promising first season with the Lakers would make sense, but the coach is committed to his job in bringing the Lakers back to glory.
It was a bit of a surprise that the Knicks fired Thibodeau considering he just led them to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years, but the franchise felt it was time to move on. Finding the right replacement, however, is an entirely different story and they are undoubtedly hoping to find the right person for the job, just as the Lakers did a year ago.
Lakers interested in reunion with guard Lonzo Ball
JJ Redick is far more focused on getting the Lakers to championship contention, but the roster needs to improve in order to make that happen. One player whom the franchise could have eyes on is their former first-round draft pick Lonzo Ball.
One reporter recently mentioned his belief that the franchise would be interested in a reunion with Ball. With his health history, having just returned to the court for the Chicago Bulls after missing two full seasons due to a knee issue, the Lakers would have to be careful about what they would give away in a trade, though his game on paper would be an ideal fit next to Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
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