For the Lakers management, led by Pelinka, they need to speed up their operations. After firing Ham and the entire coaching staff, including Phil Handy, the Lakers have yet to finalize the next head coach. In contrast, the Suns' main focus after firing 2020 champion coach Vogel is a quick knife to cut through the mess - recruit 2021 championship coach Budenholzer with a five-year fat contract of more than 50 million. On the one hand, the Suns also have to pay Vogel the remaining contract worth $24 million for the next four years, and at the same time bear Bu Shuai's tens of millions of annual salary, it can only be said that the new owner Ishbia is indeed inhumane; On the other hand, in fact, the Lakers have seriously considered Budenholzer before, but now they are being snatched away by the Suns, which also sounded the alarm for the Purple and Gold, there are only a few excellent head coaches, and they must determine the direction as soon as possible - hesitation will lead to defeat, and decisiveness can seize the opportunity!
The Lakers' current thinking is to "walk on two legs", and in addition to looking for a head coach, they have not given up the possibility of strengthening the roster. In fact, these two things also complement each other, if the head coach can be finalized as soon as possible, then the coaching staff will give good advice to the management, and the direction of recruitment will be clearer. If you can make some gains in the trade market and form a more luxurious lineup, then it will also reassure those big-name managers who are still waiting and seeing, and they are willing to come to the City of Angels to take charge of the coach.
According to a report by Woj, although it was previously rumored that the Lakers wanted experienced head coaches, because the current coach market is not a buyer's market, they actually do not have clear criteria for selecting coaches. At the moment, two names have been mentioned, one is former Hornets coach and now Pelicans offensive assistant coach Borrego, and the other is Redick, who was once very popular. The problem is that the former's coaching win rate is a bit dismal, and Redick has never really proven himself, so using such a no-coach option is hard to guarantee that the Nets won't repeat the mistake of the Nets appointing Nash as head coach. In fact, the Lakers have no choice, according to the report of Charania of the Register, they were originally interested in Budenholzer, but they were preempted by the Suns, as for Vogel, the Lakers will definitely not reunite with him.
Despite the difficulties, the Lakers' desire to speed up will not change. Team reporter Juwan Buha revealed on his podcast that while the Lakers haven't started interviewing for the head coach yet, it's coming soon. The team intends to finalize the head coach on the eve of draft night on June 26 and involve the manager in the draft and roster changes. In other words, it will only be a month and a half to get full, and even though many candidates may still be on the playoffs, the Lakers need to start interviewing early.
Buha also revealed that the Lakers are active in the trade market and have been stretched thin on chips before, but they have three first-round picks to come up with this offseason, including the No. 17 pick in the first round in 2024. In previous reports, among the potential candidates for the Lakers' Big Three, the Hawks backcourt double-gun call is very high, whether it is Trae Young or Dejounte Murray's name has been repeatedly mentioned, in addition, DeRozan is also a good choice. It's up to Lakers management and the new head coach to choose. At present, the Lakers have to get the head coach as soon as possible, and then carefully consider the trade to avoid the embarrassing situation of the stud and the result of the decline in strength. Do you think Pelinka can deliver a satisfactory answer this time?