The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for a new head coach has taken a crazy turn with reports coming out on Thursday morning that they will aggressively pursue UConn’s Dan Hurley for the job.
Hurley is coming off back-to-back National Championships with the Huskies but has always spoken about his desire to eventually make the jump to the NBA.
If the Lakers are going to convince the 51-year-old to make the jump though then they will need to open their checkbooks. Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million extension to stay with UConn last summer, and with this Lakers news dropping, it’s also possible the university could give him another raise to stay.
Regardless though, if Hurley was to leave UConn for L.A. then the Lakers would be on the hook for a $1.875 million buyout, per Shams Charania and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic:
Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with UConn in 2023, after the first of the back-to-back titles. The contract includes a separate, heavily reduced buyout if Hurley leaves for an NBA head-coaching position — $1.875 million, versus a $7.5 million buyout if he leaves for a college head-coaching job.
The Lakers have been cheap when hiring new coaches in their past few searches, but it is clear that if they want to land a big fish like Hurley then they will need to pay top dollar. And all indications are that they are willing to do so, which means it will be up to the two-time championship winning coach to make a decision on his future.
Paying a $1.875 million buyout would be the least of the Lakers’ issues, especially if they are willing to give Hurley a massive contract to be their coach. But luckily, a buyout for a coach making the jump to the NBA is significantly less than if Hurley were to leave for another school.
Dan Hurley was at forefront of Lakers’ coaching search from beginning
The reporting on the Lakers’ coaching search all along has been that ESPN analyst JJ Redick is the favorite to land the job.
There was not even a mention of Dan Hurley’s name before Thursday morning, but as it turns out, he was at the forefront of the team’s coaching search from the beginning.
It will now be up to Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka to close the deal, or else they might have to circle back to Redick and the other candidates they’ve been speaking with.
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