The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for a new coach took a shocking turn early Thursday morning when it was reported that they will be aggressively targeting UConn’s Dan Hurley to make the jump to the NBA.
Through the interview process, ESPN analyst JJ Redick had been considered the favorite to land the job. He was said to have impressed the Lakers with his work ethic and basketball IQ.
According to Adrian Wojnarowksi of ESPN though, Hurley was actually the Lakers’ primary target all along in this search:
The Lakers have had preliminary contact with Hurley and the sides are planning to escalate discussions in the coming days, sources told ESPN. Hurley has been at the forefront of the Lakers’ search from the beginning of the process, even while the organization has done its due diligence interviewing several other candidates, sources said.
A deal is not done, as it appears the Lakers will need to do some convincing to get Hurley to leave his current job at UConn, where he has won the last two National Championships.
Getting Hurley to leave will not come cheap, but it has been reported that the Lakers are ready to open their checkbook to make it happen.
Hurley has spoken multiple times about wanting to make the jump to the NBA, and he could view getting the chance to coach LeBron James and Anthony Davis in L.A. as the prime opportunity to do that.
It’s still possible that UConn counters with a huge extension offer to their two-time National Championship winning head coach though, so it will be up to Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss and the Lakers brass to close the deal if they really feel Hurley is the right man for the job.
If they are unable to do so then they will likely circle back to Redick, James Borrego or some of the other candidates they have interviewed.
Lakers would need to pay Dan Hurley’s buyout with UConn
If the Lakers were to lure Dan Hurley away from UConn, they would need to pay his contract buyout, which is $1.875 million.
Hurley has a $7.5 million buyout if he were to leave for another college job but that number is significantly lower for the NBA. Hurley has spoken about making the jump to the NBA in the past, and now he has an opportunity to do so with arguably the most prestigious organization in all of sports.
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