The Los Angeles Lakers needed a head coach who was willing to go against the grain in order to get this star-laden roster back to the postseason, and they did so by hiring a neophyte in Darvin Ham. After years as an assistant in Milwaukee, Ham is ready to be his own boss.
Ham comes into the league’s most high-profile job with some questions. Not only does he have to figure out where Russell Westbrook fits into the equation, but he needs to construct a solid rotation around a bunch of cheap players while making sure LeBron James is on board.
Among the reason for optimism are the weakened Western Conference and the prospect of both James and Anthony Davis being healthy this season. The rest of the league thinks that Ham is on the precipice of turning the Lakers into a consistent winner.
NBA GMs said that Ham will make the biggest impact on his team of any of the new coaches in the league, garnering 48% of the vote. Kings coach Mike Brown was given 31% of the share, while Steve Clifford came in third place as he tries to revitalize the Hornets.
Darvin Ham expected to make biggest impact on his team among new coaches – NBA GM survey #DarvinHam https://t.co/yQNOYDnKph
— TalkBasket (@TalkBasket) October 4, 2022
NBA executives like what Darvin Ham brings to the Lakers.
Ham will have to fight through arguably the best division in basketball this season. The Clippers and Warriors are both title favorites this season, the Suns remain deadly despite a very noisy offseason, and the Kings are by no means a pushover given some of their recent moves.
His first task as coach of the Lakers will be finding some way to get Westbrook involved while making sure trade acquisition Patrick Beverley also plays an important role on this team. Given their contrasting styles, this might be a lot easier to do in theory than in practice.
Given how he came from a Mike Budenholzer system in Milwaukee that continuously ranked among the best in the league, he should have the Lakers performing better than Frank Vogel had them looking offensively. Yes, he doesn’t have Giannis Antetkounmpo, but that doesn’t mean he can’t put together a strong offense.
Darvin Ham on Russell Westbrook: “He’s ours. We love him. And we want him to do well. … It’s been a great camp for him.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 4, 2022
The Lakers may not be viewed as a no-doubt championship contender this season, but Ham has the ability to make them a playoff team if he can implement his ideas. Unlike most first-year coaches, Ham has a huge reservoir of talent that he can lean on.
3 marksmen that could snag the final Lakers roster spot
There is one more spot on the Los Angeles Lakers roster for the team to fill and it could be filled by any one of these three marksmen.