Lakers News: Threat Around JJ Redick’s LA Gig Ends Shocking $50 Million News From American State Breaks NBA World

Ever since the Lakers fired their HC, Darvin Ham, they’ve been on a hunt for the next coach. They’re looking for someone who fits in well with the team, can lead them, guide them, help them around, and also help LeBron James on his journey to get his next championship ring. The franchise is obviously trying everything in its power to ensure they’re not repeating the same mistakes they did while hiring coaches before this one. So, they turned this eye towards a coveted coach, Mike Budenholzer.

Mike Budenholzer comes with a lot of patience and experience. He checks in all the right boxes for the Lakers and has a proven track record with the right amount of insights. He stood out as the leading candidate after having served as the assistant coach to Greg Popovich and then went on to have a successful tenure with the Atlanta Hawks, after getting the NBA Coach of the Year award after a 60-win season with them, and his success story with the Bucks. His defensive strategies and dynamism while handling his team ensure new players like Giannis Antentokounpo be what they are today. Even though everything about Mike is commendable, the Lakers couldn’t lay their hands on the most coveted coaches out there. Why? Because he decided to join hands with the Phoenix Suns after agreeing to a 5-year, $50 million contract

So, the Lakers’ hunt started all over again. It seems like they’ve been running around in circles, with a possible list of all the candidates from around the fraternity but nobody to hire. Of course, they want to appease their star player too. So, they move their head around and decide to look at LeBron James’ podcast pal, JJ Redick. Thanks to a big movement (Mike’s) in the NBA coaching world, the odds of the Redick being selected have surely risen. And this was even confirmed by NBA insider, Adrian Wojnarowski.

Woj categorized the Lakers’ current dilemma into three buckets – assistant coaches, head coaches who are currently serving as assistants, and fresh candidates. Woj said, “I think there’s really three buckets for this Laker job. There are guys who are assistant coaches… Former head coaches who might be assistants somewhere like James Borrego in New Orleans who had a really good season with their offense and you saw what he did for them in Charlotte where they got better each year. And then sort of the unorthodox candidates, guys who haven’t coached, potentially a JJ Redick.” 

Adrian Wojnarowski believes JJ Redick “intrigues” the Lakers

As per Adrian Wojnarowski, there’s not one straight-line candidate for this coveted job. So, with Mike out of the picture, there’s not one veteran that they can be remotely interested in, further corroborating the fact that this isn’t a “buyer’s market” right now in the NBA coaching world. But then he goes on further to emphasize the importance of JJ Redick to the Lakers. “One name that the Lakers have been drilling down on in their initial research here: JJ Redick, our colleague at ESPN. He is certainly somebody that the Lakers are intrigued with,” Wojnarowski said.

“They’ve been making a lot of calls to try to learn more about him. But expect this to be a wide-ranging and lengthy search. … There is interest from the LA side. There’s been interest in JJ in a front-office role or a coaching role. He’s a smart guy, a talented guy.”

With LeBron James retiring in a few years, and the future of other stars remaining uncertain, the Lakers could have certainly used someone like Budenholzer to lead and even restructure the team. But they can still turn it into a win-win situation with JJ Redick. It should be a good decision considering the acumen he possesses, the kind of bond he possesses with their star player, King James, and his overall insights and strategies that are displayed in front of the world on their podcast show, Mind the Game.

Even though Redick has zero coaching experience, he has served as an NBA player for 15 years and then moved to the entertainment and media side of things in the NBA. He definitely does have that credibility to his name. And given how James’ distrust was part of the alleged reason the HC was fired from the team after the mediocre playoff performance, hiring Redick might solve that since he already is LeBron James’ approved.