Redick Interviews in Los Angeles. Will the Lakers Have a Coach Before the Draft?

Redick Interviews in Los Angeles. Will the Lakers Have a Coach Before the Draft?

hey everyone welcome to locked on Lakers for Monday Brian kimki Andy kimki the Lakers interviewed JJ reic over the weekend but are they really in a hurry to hire anyone that’s [Music] next you are locked on Lakers your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks to everybody for making locked on Lakers first listen of every day Monday through Friday no matter how or where you get your podcast it’s always free it’s never buy a pay wall and locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go to hang out with over 24,000 subscribers all of whom Andy are wondering whether or not the Lakers are GNA have a coach by the draft or even free agency uh which is something apparently the Lakers are kicking around like do we really need that as reported by the LA Times and Dan wakey um to that point Andy they did so we’ll get into that a draft by the way where uh maybe they might move up that’s was reported over the weekend instead of trading out of the draft entirely perhaps the Lakers are are interested in trading up uh so we’ll try to get into that before the end of the show but uh Andy say Obviously the coaching search is is uh related to all of these things um because the Lakers did finally sit down and talk uh at length to uh JJ reck whether you want to call it his first interview his fourth interview his 11th interview if you want to consider three interviews to equ one interview so now it’s a second formal interview I don’t know what the rules are but the group the entire basketball organization apparently really did sit down with JJ reck over the weekend what’s funny about this is like you said Brian it’s very difficult to know exactly where the Lakers are in this process in terms of how many different times they’ve spoken with JJ reck how many times they’ve spoken with James bgo what constitutes a conversation what is an interview interview what constitutes a conversation or an interview with David adman or Michael M Nory or whoever because it seems like they’ve talked to some of these guys but they haven’t been interviewed whatever and then in the mean like the only person we know that they 100% went after was Dan Hurley yes because we know that they actually offered him a contract we knew that they flew uh Mr and Mrs Hurley to La gave him the uh gave him the Spiel whatever and it also feels like that the Lakers may not be able to hire a coach until the finals ends which is weird which could be tonight which could be tonight could be tonight but if it’s not it feels like the longer that Dallas can Stave off elimination the longer the Lakers may go without hiring a coach or maybe they give somebody else another interview they all of a sudden decide they can make a last minute Hail Mary to J right like I have no idea maybe maybe the whole thing has been trying to entice Coach K like Coach K sees all these different people interview like you know what I could do this I’ll come out of retirement I don’t know it’s it’s funny in the sense that um well actually first this isn’t what I mean by it’s funny I just do want to let people know that today’s episode is brought to you by prize picks the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to prix.com locklock on NBA use code allower case locked on NBA for first CA a match up to $100 like you see the you know the the note from wakey that the Lakers are potentially willing like will not be rushed into this into a hire to the point that they will clearly they will actually go into the draft like there are people reportedly comfortable inside the I wonder how many and who they are but like people inside the organization that are reportedly comfortable with with going into those things without a coach um you know these are really important moments in your offseason and like the idea that they and so it’s gone from this like look it’s been the whole well it’s been this way the whole way the Lakers have been one constant has been the Lakers will not rush they’re not gonna be rushed into this process and so on and so on and so on but at some point you do reach like the idea where like the conventional wisdom at least is you need to hire a coach and you need to do it quickly and I think what the Lakers are trying to do is pushed back on the idea that this Hurley thing um was a big swing that not only didn’t work out because Dan Hurley didn’t say yes but didn’t work out because it put them so far behind in the coaching search that now they risk you know having so they’re they’re clearly trying to under sort of get rid of that perception before it takes hold whether it’s true or not and just be like yeah we could we’re going to no we are going to be on our timeline if it’s before the draft great if it’s not before the draft fine um it just seems suboptimal to me to not have a coach in place before you do those things I mean it also just seems silly to try to put that out there like yes you know Dan W’s report said that there are some within the organization who think they don’t necessarily have to have the coach in place before the draft and free agency and in the most literal sense yes they are correct the Lakers will be allowed to pick at 17 and 55 without a coaching place like quite frankly if Rob pinka got fired right before the draft and free agency they can still participate like as long as somebody calls in the draft pick you can do all this stuff like as long as somebody calls in the offer for whatever free agent like you can do all of these things right but there is a reason that broadly speaking I think the conventional wisdom is that functional organizations have all of this stuff well in place before the draft and free agency because there’s a lot of decisions to be made and if they’re trying by the way also to like dispel any type of narrative or you know maintain whatever leverage to like keep a coach from feeling like oh you guys are gonna be desperate I can get more money off just it’s not believable like it’s not believable in terms of an organization being well-run it’s believable if you’re not well-run it’s it’s like yes it is better to not have a coach at the draft like president of the draft you know it’s like theoretically that’s a front office thing too you want your coach’s input or whatever um it’s even better to not have a coach at the beginning of free agency than to panic and rush and feel like you might have hired the wrong guy I understand that and I agree that’s true the notion though that they couldn’t get this done right like that eight weeks wouldn’t be enough time right the process like we have to honor the process and be deliberate and really making sure that we’re you know dotting every eye and Crossing every te and all that I great do those things but can we you know can we pick it up like you there’s no rule that says you have to do those things exceptionally slowly I mean again it just feels it feels like if reic is the front runner so much of this is just tied up with his job with the NBA finals which I don’t need to go into the eenth explanation of why I find this so frustratingly stupid on so like that you that you could not have figured out a way to get the Lakers the league and ESPN all on the same page so we can do this in a way that allows the Lakers to function normally that allows JJ reck a head start on all this and also avoids if you were concerned that the Lakers coaching uh hire would be overshadowing the finals if JJ reck had been hired let me tell you something an open vacancy at the Lakers head coaching job overshadows this a hell of a lot more can we just all agree that at this point the Lakers coaching thing has overshadowed the finals stop been a very good finals I said three weeks ago Dan Hurley the you know the the the death of Jerry West like there b and a bad finals it’s not been a good finals no so but I’m just saying like it again this may all work out and if Boston wins tonight Lakers may end up having a coach hired on Tuesday I have no idea it just it just seem putting aside the idea that like finding the through line between Dan Hurley JJ reck and James bgo is difficult um it well they are all three guys who theoretically are in you know creative and Innovative offensive coaches okay um it’s just is it just male um it all just seems like as always the Lakers never make this easy they just never make it easy there’s an interesting question about you know this notion of a firsttime coach first-time head coach first time all that stuff and some people weighing in on that uh interesting writing about that interesting people weighing in on that and it’s a question where um I I wonder you know what the answer is really dependent on so we’ll get into it next lock on Lakers is brought to you by LinkedIn and when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals right for the role that’s why you got to check out LinkedIn jobs 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the Lakers are are talking to really one guy with coaching experience that’s bgo uh head coaching experience I should say everyone else who’s a a a perceived as a frontend candidate for this job is either a first-time head coach or a firsttime coach uh in the case of reic which obviously you most people at this point are familiar with so it really is worth getting into this question of whether or not that’s just that is problematic and you know so a lot of people are weighing in including former Laker Larry Nance uh he was speaking to FanDuel TV’s run it back show says personally I think a first-time head coach is not the answer the LA Market is really hard if you’ve never dealt with something like that uh like that before obviously you miss a shot you’re the next to fill in the blank uh you miss a shot you should never picked up a basketball in your life it’s tough think you probably think you probably need an established coach but I can’t necessarily put a name out there for that you need someone with clout which you by the way you know first time head coach in the NBA but this is what they were going for with Hurley like when you hear a comment like that like you need somebody with clout okay well that that’s Dan Hurley um and so they don’t have that option anymore it seems like and I know um there was more stuff Brad Turner from the from the times talk to Vinnie delnegro Derrik Fischer Mark Jackson Steve Kerr Doc Rivers about their experien as firsttime head coaches and I when you ask that question Andy who what is the answer like who is the answer more dependent like what goes into answering that question of is it a good idea uh is it you know can a firsttime head coach be successful uh with the Lakers is this a gig the right gig for that first of all it’s worth noting too that Larry Nance Jr’s perspective on this comes having been coached with the Lakers by Luke Walton who was a first-time head coach so this isn’t pure speculation by came with more experience than most first because he least got that season as a um you know St guy yeah um so Nance is at least speak it’s interesting because Nance isn’t just purely speculating about what it is like you know with the Lakers with that Spotlight whatever like he has literally done the thing that he’s talking about um I looked up some of the some of the numbers for the first time coaches the the ones that Brad Turner from the LA Times spoke with and I thought it was interesting Mark Jackson his first season with the Warriors they won just 23 games it was in a 67 game lockout season but it’s a weird year Steph missed a ton of games there was that Steph Curry Monte Ellis weirdness about how to structure the team Klay Thompson was just a rookie um but the following season they won 47 games and the season after that 51 so Mark Jackson got the warriors on the right track pretty quickly and then Steve CER obviously took over that 51 win team and immediately won a championship Doc Rivers when his first season in Orlando the team that he took over had won they’d been 16 games above 500 in the lockout shorten season and then his first year they went down winning percentage wise to 41 and 41 but that was also his best scorers that year were Daryl Armstrong and Ron Mercer so respectfully to those guys 500 teams sounds like Doc did his job pretty well Vinnie Del Negro in his first season with the bulls they went from 33 wins to 41 Derek fiser is the only of these guys that BT spoke with that really had a disastrous first and only time coaching with the Knicks so one of the things that I look at is I think a lot of this depends on a if it’s reic do the Lakers have concrete tangible reasons that they believe reic is the right choice like you have to know why you’re choosing the guy in the first place but also too and this is something we’ve talked about a lot Brian it comes down to are you keeping the EXP expectations and the patience level and the support system good like if you give JJ reck reasonable expectations and you grade him based on the job that he actually did then he might be able to prove himself to be the right hire for this situation if you hold him to a standard of you’re either winning a championship or your seats War he’s not going to succeed but likely nobody else will either because this team is not immediately in a position reasonably to win a championship no yeah me you compete you know have a good record if guys are help me but no they are not certainly not as currently constructed or adjacent to as currently constructed they’re not going to enter this season upcoming as the you know as a prohibitive favorite in the west Darkhorse candidate you know if everything breaks well maybe they’re the team that jumps up and surprise whatever um but no you nobody’s going to pick them to win a title and like your answer is very similar to mine it’s like I don’t think the answer to that question of can a first year head coach succeed is really about the coach obviously the coach matters and like you know Darin I don’t want to say Darin didn’t have the stuff to be a coach in La like that’s I’m not hold like he was very successful in his first second year he did seem to start getting pretty put off by the idea of Laker fans getting pretty nuts wi to win which is something he should no he should but I think there um those problems would have manifest in a lot of cities I I think any City assuming the team was trying to win like had high expectations then you know that reaction isn’t going to play any better and you know stop treating everything you know living and dying by every game that’s not going to play well in Philly either that’s not going to play well in definitely try it in Philly no know Boston that’s not going to cut like none of these cities like smaller profile cities than la like so darvin’s problems I don’t think were necessarily specific to La maybe specific to expectations um but you know Lakers fans certainly know and as as competitive as like they are not the only team in the league with expectations the answer is it’s up to the Lakers whether or not a first year or firsttime head coach can succeed I do think though it is this is why it is you when when you hear somebody like Larry Nance say you need someone with clout it’s gonna be hard to find JJ reic I think may be respected I think people but does not have clout um and this is why you if you’re going to hire reic you need to put him at the front of the line make sure everybody’s comfortable and don’t make the perception seem like he’s a third or a fourth choice or whatever every step you go down the line with reic where you start like they interviewed him this weekend if they stop and interview four other people and then come back and have seconda every step you create with reic that he is not now your first choice undercuts that kind of credibility and whatever clout and cache that he might have with this locker room and you just make that with the media with all these people who are like the advantage to Hurley and I a thousand % understand why the Lakers wanted to make this play is that nobody’s going to question why the Lakers went out nobody’s going to question whether or not the Lakers are going to fire him nobody’s gonna question who wins in a power struggle between player X and Dan Hur like he had clout and the Lakers through this process need to make sure that they’re not so deliberate that they actually end up undercutting the person that they’re trying to empower yeah especially after all the leaks about JJ reick having the Pat Riley Vibes you then go out and make a you know a pretty deliberate offer or pretty deliberate attempt I should say we both don’t think the offer was high enough but they clearly wanted Dan real thing which is fine I mean it is fine if JJ reick is the second choice what it can’t be is JJ reick is the second choice held to a completely different lower threshold of standard than Dan Hurley that will not work and that won’t work whether it’s David Adelman whether it’s James bgo Mike an Nori Sam Cassell whoever like you have to treat these guys like they matter and that you want them there and that you are willing to write out a process with whoever it is otherwise you’re just going to stay on this Maro round um all right well let’s talk a little bit about the draft because interesting uh report from Jake fiser at Yahoo about what the Lakers might do uh you know because they’re not encumbered by having a coach weigh in in this process I’ll get to it next lock on Lakers brought to you by prize picks America’s number one fantasy sports app with over 3 million members the easiest most exciting way to play DFS it’s just you against the numbers pick more than or less than on two or more player stat projections and watch those winnings roll in you can win up to a 100 times your money on prize pi with as little as four four correct picks you can turn 10 bucks into $1,000 a grand with basketball and hockey entries today on prize picks again America’s number one sports app when the finals end Hoops action does not women’s basketball’s just getting started young stars like Caitlyn Clark and Angel ree veterans like Asia Wilson and bana Stewart again win up to a 100 times your money as those ladies do their thing price pick now offers Apple pay for quick and easy deposits into your account you can make your pick submit the entries in less than 60 seconds go to prize.com lockon NBA use the code lockon NBA for a first deposit match up to 100 bucks prize picks pick more pick less it’s that easy so um the expectation Andy from a lot of people is that the Lakers you know would use this pick tra essentially trade out of the draft you know draft on behalf of somebody else trade the pick and and and in pursuit of a star um I’ve seen um at least some murmurings around that like maybe they would trade down to try to get additional draft Capital additional assets um it is a um middle loaded draft I think is fair to say there’s most of the stuff I read and not that I’ve been scouting these people and you know Andy and I as we we tell people are not college basketball people we are not Scouts but we you know read and we aggregate basically what other people are doing and we will by the way bring on some draft people onto the show absolutely no question um they’re seen like a very L it’s not a great year to be in the top five but it’s not a terrible year to be in the you know 10 through 20 range because they’re just isn’t that much difference this year between five and 25 you know some years that Gap is huge other years it’s smaller and you know there’s just not a lot of agreement on who goes where on a draft board so 17 for a team like the Lakers is actually not terrible because you’re you know you might be if you Scout right and pick right you actually might be able to find somebody so I’ve seen the Lakers you know think ideas the Lakers might move back get a little extra draft Capital because they don’t have much of it um I but now this weekend any a report that they might move up uh from Jake fiser try to pull out essentially kind of what Dallas did with Derek liely maybe you’re not you’re not picking up to four but you’re moving from 17 to 13 17 to 12 um I I’m certainly intrigued by this idea they need to find some cost controlled players you’re going to need some guys that both are under cost control and that you can help develop for a longer window there’s a real logic to keeping that pick especially I think also too we’ve seen how many teams have been regretting the idea of being so topl loaded with players who are you know late 20s early 30s or higher that you your window just becomes so much tighter with that type of alignment it’s you know I think there’s obviously the contast between last year and this year are the Lakers going to go after somebody who is NBA ready versus Jaylen HUD chafino who I think obviously didn’t perform at the level that they expected but I don’t think anybody like in the organization was like he’s a guy who could come in and play real minutes for us now next year I don’t think there was that expectation um I get why both of us thought it was a mistake at the time um to not go after somebody more NBA ready and it turns out we and others who thought that were right I don’t know if we necessarily thought it was a mistake we were very surprised they didn’t do it I it was a it was a I think we both thought of it as a risk it is defitely risk that where you have so many guys who you know are injured a lot that you you you you the the importance of having a 13th guy or 12th guy or 10th guy 11th guy on that on this roster this year who could play um was more the guys who stayed healthy turned out to be the stars um and they needed the other dudes that were the were the ones who were falling apart but the point being like it would have been helpful if Jaylen Hood Chino was more NBA ready this year really would have come handy you know that’s Bas that’s the the risk of that was what we were pointing out you know there was there is a a version of the world where Hino would never have played because everybody same holds true in Miami with haime hakz same holds true in uh in Golden state to with psky oh they did Golden State they did not begin the season expecting him to have the role that he did not at all nor nor Miami Miami wasn’t gonna play hak like that until everybody got hurt so but they I think then we’re also thinking we might want guys who are more NBA ready you know hakz is like comes out of like a 3D printer out of Pat r office is somebody like who would designed to play for the Miami Miami Heat I think this year they won’t do that again I think this year they will find a player who is more NBA ready um and your chances of finding that are higher at 12 than they are at 17 they’re higher at 13 than they are 17 it’s not a guarantee either way but I I just I I I find that interesting and the idea that you would instead of trading that for something else that is more NBA ready you might use probably relatively limited assets like you don’t probably wouldn’t need to do a ton this year to go from 17 to 14 13 12 just because the draft is so mid um as the kids would say um I I I I I kind of like the tactic it’s sort of a low if it were if I’m correct about reading the market that way well I mean the other thing too is the Lakers the strongest part part of their organization has been their scouting Department like that’s really been I think the most unquestioned strength in terms of the different Departments of the Lakers yes Jaylen Hood chafino may end up being a mistake but frankly as both of us have reminded a lot we have not seen enough to make that assessment one way or the other like I don’t think it is fair to JHS and I don’t think it’s fair to the organization to already write him off as a bust I just it’s unfair but I also think there’s just not enough information but especially when you look at the recent draft picks where it felt like you know in the 20s or you know maybe the top of the second round they were looking for guys who could be ready to play right away the track record is pretty good Kyle kosma was a guy ready to play in the NBA right away Josh Hart was very ready to play right away Larry Nance Jr was very ready to play right away Jordan Clarkson once he got an opportunity to play and that was a guy that they actually bought the draft pick specifically to draft him was ready to play right away as a rookie you know and yes I understand that those teams weren’t necessarily contending teams but you can tell if somebody’s ready or not and those guys were all ready yeah and it’s a matter you’re it’s a matter of sacrificing some ceiling I think is what this comes down to because when you draft a guy these and these players do tend to be older if you find a guy who’s who’s 19 and NBA ready you are not getting them at 17 16 15 14 D Derk Lively generally speaking you’re not you’re you know they are more the exception to the rule I think it’s fair to say like those guys like I I think Lively’s impact was a little bit of a surprise this year and some of it is system some of it is opportunity some of it is who you playing next to and what are you what are you being asked asked to do and it seems like Dallas um really deployed Lively smartly um and also has put him around you know they picked up Gafford they’ve done like they’ve done a really good job this year so you’re right yes it can happen well I’m just pointing it out because we had began we began the conversation talking about Derek Lively and he was one of those guys no you’re but you’re right you’re right it can happen but generally speaking a 19-year-old who everyone agrees can step in and play for you in his rookie season and be you know on a good team um is not going to be somebody who’s available middle of the draft generally LeBron that’s generally LeBron melow those type of players right you just you see that talent and people jump at it faster um and so the players that you’re talking about like I don’t think hwz is gonna be a star in this league I think he’s going to be kind of a better version of what he is now like a really good player but not but a role player never in all star you know whatever I think py is kind of the same like you know these guys like you know maybe you see him progressing a little bit more Nance effective player not gonna be an All-Star like you know Josh Hart effective player not gonna be but they’re really useful and they’re particularly useful on good teams where you don’t need them to be a star so if you’re willing to sacrifice a little bit of ceiling um then you’re good to go and I do agree with you about Hino it is way too early to call him a bust yeah it’s just I don’t think that’s fair to anybody involved that being said it’s very important that jayen H chafino has a good season locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 34,000 subscribers uh we will be watching this head coaching search uh with uh great interest and you know Tick Tock y’all um and uh yeah leave us questions leave us comments we’ll see everyone tomorrow

JJ Redick was in LA this weekend, meeting with the team for his “most formal” round of interviews yet, via the LA Times.

How quickly the Lakers move from here is a matter of debate. On the one hand, it certainly seems like the Lakers are facing a time crunch, with the draft rolling around at the end of the month, and free agency starting soon after. But according to Adrian Wojnarowski, there is some thought that the organization, or at least some in it, are comfortable entering those critical periods without a coach in place. Which seems kinda nutty, but hey, who’s to say it’s not time to break the mold?

Meanwhile, there are real questions as to whether a first time head coach, or in the case of Redick, a first time coach, period, is the way to go. Former Laker Larry Nance says no, and others talk about that experience and how challenging it is, especially in LA. The answer probably is less about the coach and more the organization.

And about that draft? Could the Lakers, who have been rumored to be in the middle of big trades that would send that pick away, actually be looking to improve their draft position through a trade? If they have their eye on a candidate they think could step in and help, how big a price would they have to pay in a draft most consider pretty weak?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers spoke to JJ Redick this weekend at length.

SEGMENT 2: Is a first year coach a good idea?

SEGMENT 3: Moving up in the Draft?

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