Lakers reaction: LA ‘zeroing in’ on JJ Redick as next head coach

Lakers reaction: LA ‘zeroing in’ on JJ Redick as next head coach

yo yo I’m Yoon buha Lakers beat rider for the athletic and we have a Lakers update uh the Lakers are zeroing in on JJ reck as the front runner to be their next head coach according to Sham chirania of the athletic the Lakers have not made a final decision yet and there are still more steps to go in the process in terms of interviews but all signs are pointing to reic being the Lakers next head coach as I’ve been saying on my podcast and this channel for weeks reic began this process as The Slight favorite and that has only increased over the last 2 to 3 weeks the buzz in talking to people within the organization and outside the organization has all come up JJ now the primary competitor with reic over the past month has been New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach James bgo who has a solid rapport with Anthony Davis the two briefly over lapped in New Orleans for about a month month and a half it was not very long but that clearly left a strong impression on Davis and the Lakers have made it known as well as uh clutch Sports CEO and Davis’s agent Rich Paul that this should be more of a Davis higher than a LeBron James higher given that LeBron may only play another year two years three years Max in the NBA and Davis is signed for another four years with the Lakers uh so the the Lakers are viewing this more as a Davis hire than a James hire and they are factoring in Anthony Davis’s wishes and his rapport with bgo has clearly helped bgo during this process and bumped him up uh where it’s it’s mainly been him versus reic over the last few weeks and brego just had his in-person interview with the Lakers key decision makers and stakeholders last week in Los Angeles reic met with the Lakers a few weeks ago he was the first candidate to get in person meetings blakers have also interviewed Sam Cassell Mike anori David Adelman and Chris Quinn according to chirania but the the race has largely been Whitted down to reck and bgo now as far as the next steps in terms of uh when the announcement could be official when reic could be joining the organization what his staff could look like those are all factors that are undetermined right now reck is going to be calling the NBA Finals so it appears like he won’t be joining the Lakers until after the finals uh conclude now whether the Lakers make their decision during the finals or after the finals uh remains unclear but it seems like if reic is the choice and that is the way that this has trended for a while now uh he will be joining them uh almost certainly after the finals who will be on his staff will partly be determined by what happens with the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching situation James bgo is among the finalists for that position so if he ends up getting that he obviously won’t be on JJ reck’s staff but the Lakers would love to have brego on the St staff uh peas Anthony Davis get him his guy and bring in an assistant who has had Championship success as an assistant and help develop younger players and younger Talent as a head coach in Orlando and in Charlotte and as far as assistants go uh brego Sam Cassell Rajan Rondo Scott Brooks and Jared Dudley are the names that have been floated uh over the last few weeks there’s going to be competition for casselle with Charles Lee leaving the Celtics staff to go coach the Charlotte Hornets Cassell could be promoted by Boston Milwaukee is also reportedly interested in him given his ties to Doc Rivers so the Lakers are trying to make him an assistant if he’s not the lead assistant uh there will be competition for him to be the lead in Boston and Milwaukee and he could be making more money in those two other situations so Cassel might be a tricky one unless the Lakers can offer a better position or more money than those two other situations and brego again uh is a bit up in the air right now uh with the the Cleveland situation J Dudley is obviously in the finals right now with Dallas and we’ll see how that plays out and how big of a role he had and how much they want to keep him uh then you got Rondo who’s a free agent I’ll have more on the likely Ric higher in the coming days and weeks I think it is an interesting move for the Lakers going with a first time coach uh a coach who is not coached above the Youth Level and nowadays the Youth Level could mean high school or college but in this case it means eight and nine and 10y olds I don’t know exactly how old JJ reck’s son is but he is not Co coached outside that level and he’s of course played 15 years in the NBA played at Duke for 4 years uh one of the top programs in the country under one of the best coaches of all time in Coach K had a highlevel NBA career has become one of the best NBA analysts color commentators podcasters Etc he has dominated the media industry and I think he has shown an ability to dominate whatever he puts his mind to JJ is dedicated he is maniacal he is competitive and I think those traits will make him a good coach whether he could be a good coach from day one remains to be seen uh it is a mystery but with the potential candidates that the Lakers are looking to surround him with with the assistant coaching staff with his stated basketball philosophies in terms of being pro analytics uh just his his competitive nature and his maniacal detail oriented nature he checks a lot of the boxes in terms of what the Lakers are looking for from their next head coach they are infatuated with him they view him in a similar light to a young Pat Riley those are high compliments and it is big shoes to fill and there’s going to be pressure from day one on JJ reic but at the same time he has been preparing for this moment for years now he has been dipping his toes in the coaching Waters in terms of conversations with other teams having conversations with coaches to prepare for this very opportunity and I think he’ll be ready and of course as we hear more on potential timeline and what his assistant coaching staff could look like and what the Lakers are leaning toward in terms terms of the draft and and free agency and the trade market I will have more thoughts on how all these moving parts fit together but for now I think it’s fair to say that this was not a glamorous coaching Market I think every candidate has pros and cons and despite not having the experience of the rest of the field I think JJ has several traits be it his personality his views on the game his playing experience and that competitive maniacal side to him that will make Kim a good coach I’m sure there will be some growing pains in year 1 maybe even year two but the Lakers are viewing this higher as someone for the foreseeable future for years down the road not just for this upcoming season or the season after so if they are really committing to him and as we’ve seen with Frank vogle and Darin ham even if you have success in year one Frank vogle won a championship in year one Darin ham made the Conference Finals in year one that does not necessarily guarantee you job security in this position but there is a finite window with LeBron James and Anthony Davis it will likely be a two-year window and the goal in the short term is try to maximize that two-year window and then the goal in the long term is try to bridge the gap into the next era of successful Lakers basketball in building a winning culture and a sustainable culture that will create the next Lakers championship team so it is a tall task it is a lot of pressure a lot of scrutiny and JJ reick is going to be thrown head first into to the fire from day one but JJ reck is aware of that he is a smart dude he’s been talking to people he’s been going through the interview process he’s been picking people’s brains and he appears to be the selection for the Lakers next head coach and it seems that if this plays out uh the way it is looking right now uh if JJ is the choice and again all signs point to that being the case it would likely be announced at some point during the finals and then he would join the Lakers after the finals though still a couple weeks between then and now and the Lakers uh still have to make this an official decision again all of the buzz and the Intel points to JJ reck but that’ll do it for today’s show thank you so much for watching and listening for those on YouTube please be sure to hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell and drop a comment and a like if you enjoyed this video uh for those listening on Apple podcast Spotify and your podcast platform of choice be sure to follow download and leave a fstar review I’ll be back tomorrow with episode 28 of bha’s block I will talk to you then [Music]

The Los Angeles Lakers are “zeroing in” on JJ Redick as the “front-runner” for the franchise’s next head coaching position, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

I cover why this has been building for weeks, James Borrego’s standing, the uncertainty with the assistant coaching staff and the next steps.

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