Los Angeles Lakers: What will Jeanie Buss do this offseason?
By Ed Schrenzel
2. Who will Rob Pelinka hire to be the next Lakers coach?
The front-runners, both recently interviewed by Pelinka, appear to be former Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue and former New Orleans coach Monty Williams.
If Lue is hired, it will be broadly seen as a concession to James, who played for Lue with the Cavs and is known to have a solid relationship with him. But since Buss wants to avoid the impression that LeBron is calling the shots, that might work against Lue.
Most NBA experts believe that Williams, who was a Team USA assistant when James played for it and is currently a 76ers assistant coach. He is a budding coaching star and would probably be the better choice, especially for the long haul. But Phoenix also reportedly has strong interest in hiring him. Any team hiring Williams might have to wait until Philly’s season ends.
Pelinka has reportedly also interviewed Jason Kidd, who had a disastrous run as coach of Milwaukee, and Juwan Howard, Pelinka’s former college teammate, who has no head coaching experience.