The Lakers could have hired Mike Brown
The reason why Synder was expected to be hired by the Lakers was his ties to the organization. Synder previously served as an assistant coach on the Lakers, coaching under Mike Brown. Brown didn't get much of a change in his coaching tenure with LA, as he lasted just five games into his second season.
Los Angeles made it to the second round of the playoffs in Brown's first year before being eliminated by an Oklahoma City Thunder team that was obviously the better team. Sometimes that just happens. Then, after a 1-4 start, the Lakers made the short-sighted decision to fire Brown and hire Mike D'Antoni. That did not really work.
After one bad season with a bad Cavaliers team, Brown went eight years before he got his next head coaching gig. The Sacramento Kings were the team to take a chance on him and the decision instantly paid off. Brown led a deprived franchise to a 48-34 regular-season record and won Coach of the Year in the process.
At the time of writing this, the Kings have a 19-12 record in Brown's second season. Since being hired, Brown is 67-46, whereas Ham is 60-56 in that same time frame.
Brown had experience as a head coach, was a well-respected assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors during three of their championships, and had previous experience coaching LeBron James. All the signs were there for the Lakers to make the hire and bring in a stable, experienced coach who can just keep the ship steady.
But that obviously is not what the team did.