The likely next step in the offseason process for the Los Angeles Lakers will be to find their new head coach. After letting go of Darvin Ham and his entire staff, the organization is doing its due diligence to locate and hire the candidate they feel is best fit to lead this group.
Who they pick will play a major part in determining what the Lakers accomplish going forward, as well as potentially how the end of LeBron James' career plays out as well. Per a report from NBA Insider Shams Charania on Tuesday, the Lakers' top targets as of this point are Sam Cassell, JJ Redick and James Borrego.
Now, one of these candidates is clearly very different from the rest. While Cassell has been an assistant coach for 15 years and Borrego has over two decades of coaching experience, Redick has no claim to any such prior experience.
However, the one very obvious connection to the Lakers Redick has is through LeBron James. The two have recently teamed up to create a basketball podcast titled Mind The Game. They have clearly formed some level of bond through that experience, and many are wondering if LeBron may now be pushing to have the team hire his friend as the Lakers' new head coach.
JJ Redick, James Borrego and Sam Cassell have emerged as the initial leading head coach targets as the Lakers begin formal process this week, sources tell me and @jovanbuha.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 14, 2024
Details on early focuses of the Lakers' search at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/ShiecATRkG
Listening to LeBron has hurt the Lakers before
Of course, Redick is an extremely trained and analytical basketball mind. He clearly knows a lot when it comes to X's and O's as well as what goes on in the day-to-day for an NBA team, having played 15 seasons in the league himself. But the fact that he has never been a coach still makes him a shaky candidate at best for such a prestigious position.
If LeBron is pushing hard for Redick as LA's coach, the organization should tread lightly and be very thoughtful with their decision-making. Management obviously wants to keep one of their best players happy, but they must be careful not to simply appease his every desire. Doing so in the past has arguably led to more problems than solutions for the Lakers.
It was James' desire that the team go hard after Russell Westbrook in 2021, and that obviously turned out to be one of the worst disasters in recent memory in LA. LeBron of course has plenty of friends in this industry, but that does not always lead to him making the wisest business decisions.
With all that in mind, the Lakers would be remiss to hand JJ Redick the head coaching job simply off the recommendation from LeBron. At some point or another, the front office may need to pull rank and let number 23 know that while his input is appreciated, they can not afford to simply let him make every major decision.