Los Angeles Lakers’ Direction Unclear As Ever Amid Latest Coaching Search

Less than two years removed from their last NBA title, the Los Angeles Lakers are as directionless as a recent NBA champion possibly could be.

As the 2021-22 NBA season winds down, the Lakers are already preparing for the 2022-23 season. Due to an 11th-place finish in the Western Conference and a non-playoff season just months after pulling off a blockbuster trade for Russell Westbrook, the NBA’s marquee franchise has no idea where to go.

The Lakers are currently dominating headlines as they look for their sixth head coach in the past 12 seasons. To put that into perspective, the Orlando Magic — who hold the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft — have had six full-time head coaches during that same time period.

The Magic have been one of the most dysfunctional franchises over the past decade, posting just two playoff appearances in the past 10 seasons. Outside of the Lakers’ title run in the bubble, Los Angeles’ dysfunction is about the same — they have just two playoff appearances and zero series wins when not including the 2020 season.

Behind the three future Hall-of-Fame stars in Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis and all the history associated with the Lakers is one directionless franchise.

The Lakers have reportedly narrowed down their coaching search with Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts considered the top three candidates.

Ham may very well emerge as the right fit for the Lakers. But he’s never held a head coaching gig, and the fact that the job in Laker land is as pressure-filled as any head coaching spot in American sports could lead to Ham falling drastically short of expectations.

Meanwhile, Atkinson floundered in his four seasons as Nets head coach, going 118-190 with just one playoff appearance to his name.

Stotts was obviously a better head coach during his Portland Trail Blazers stint, but he posted five first-round playoff exits during his eight seasons as head coach with bonafide All-Stars such as Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and LaMarcus Aldridge in the mix. He made it to the Conference Finals just once as the Blazers were eliminated in a sweep by the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers’ latest search for their newest head coach is so uninspiring that Los Angeles continues to hold out hope that a bigger name — the Philadelphia 76ers’ Doc Rivers — will eventually become available. This is despite the fact that Philadelphia has maintained that they’re bringing back Rivers, who has a contract that runs through the 2024-25 season.

Via NBA insider Marc Stein:

“Suspicions persist in league coaching circles that the Lakers have not completely abandoned hope that Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers becomes unexpectedly available — despite the recent insistence from Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey that Rivers will be back in Philly next season,” says Stein.

It’s unlikely that the Lakers somehow convince the Sixers to unload Rivers to Los Angeles. Furthermore, it’s not like it even matters — the Lakers’ situation is beyond repairable.

With Westbrook holding a $47 million player option for the 2022-23 season, the Lakers are burdened with bringing back the inefficient guard — barring a trade. The problem is, the only way it appears the Lakers will be able to jettison their awkward fit of a point guard is by packaging a first-round pick; something that they’re unwilling to do.

Teams have reportedly been “demanding” that the Lakers package a first-round pick in a possible deal with Westbrook, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha:

“Teams have been demanding the inclusion of at least one first-round pick to take on Westbrook’s massive expiring contract, according to league sources,” says Buha. “Rival teams know how much of a public trainwreck last season was for the Lakers, and they’re not looking to do Los Angeles any favors by helping them off of Westbrook’s contract.”

The Lakers’ lack of an immediate resolution to the Westbrook dilemma, combined with the fact that they’ll likely hire a head coach ill-equipped to handle the inevitable drama and attention surrounding the three biggest stars in Los Angeles is a recipe for disaster.

Not only are the Lakers not set up for long-term success — the New Orleans Pelicans have a stake in Los Angeles’ first-round picks in future years due to the Davis trade —they’re unable to build a roster personnel suitable for their stars due to the massive contracts of Westbrook, James ($44.5 million) and Davis ($38 million), totaling roughly $120 million. For perspective, the NBA’s salary cap is projected to be at $122 million for the 2022-23 season.

Assuming the Lakers are unable to move off of Westbrook, they would be forced to fill out the remainder of their roster with mostly older veterans on minimum-type of deals. In other words, it would be a repeat of their disastrous 2021-22 campaign.

The Lakers went 11-10 in games in which all three of their stars appeared in. James is averaging roughly 55 games per year over the past three seasons due to age and wear-and-tear. Davis has always had injury issues and Westbrook was unable to carry the load when both of his teammates were sidelined due to injury.

When all three stars were on the court together, the Lakers had a minus-3.5 net rating in the trio’s 393 minutes together — a mark worse than Los Angeles’ minus-2.9 net rating as a team.

There’s somehow a belief within Lakers circles that running it back with the right head coach will lead to different results. That’s simply a bunch of nonsense.

The Lakers have backed themselves into a corner with the Westbrook acquisition. They not only have a star who appears to be stubborn and unwilling to compromise, they have a star who earns more than any other player on the roster and is an ill-fit next to the other two superstars on the roster.

If the Lakers are unable to unload Westbrook, it doesn’t matter who they hire as their next head coach.

Next season will simply be a repeat of what we saw last year.