Los Angeles Lakers

It appears Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham might be the front-runner for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job.

Ham has made the "strongest impression" among the finalists for the Lakers' head coaching gig, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Sam Amick:

In terms of the Lakers' preferences, sources say team officials have prioritized a coach who can command respect and authority from the locker room and who has a strong enough presence and voice to manage the varying roles and relationships across the roster. Those characteristics bode well for Ham’s candidacy.

The other finalists include Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts.

The Athletic adds that Ham has been known throughout his coaching career for "his no-nonsense style and ability to resonate with his players." 

It's not necessarily surprising that the Lakers are looking for a coach with those attributes—Los Angeles is an incredibly difficult place to coach based on the spotlight alone. In addition, the team's next head coach will be leading a group that includes 37-year-old LeBron James and one that has questions about Russell Westbrook's fit with the team following a disappointing 2021-22 campaign. 

That said, Ham knows all about coaching in difficult situations, having served as an assistant for the Lakers from 2011 through 2013. He has also served as an assistant for the Atlanta Hawks and has been with the reigning champion Bucks since 2018. 

In Milwaukee, Ham has coached some of the NBA's biggest stars including Giannis Antetokounmpo. That experience should help him in coaching players like James, Westbrook and Anthony Davis.

In addition, Ham is the only candidate who has played in the NBA. He understands the challenges that players deal with, and that experience would be huge for a team that undoubtedly had its issues last year.

The Lakers' head coaching job will be particularly challenging as the team has little cap space to make improvements from the 2021-22 season. L.A. finished 11th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record and struggled to build chemistry. If that continues, it could be another brutal year for the Purple and Gold. 

Ham is also a candidate for the Charlotte Hornets head coaching job, according to Charania. So, the Lakers are facing some opposition in their pursuit of the veteran assistant. 

The Los Angeles Lakers' plan to build a winner in the 2021-22 season didn't work out. In theory, having a Big Three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook was going to allow L.A. to rotate its stars and keep them fresh throughout the grueling NBA season. However, injuries and a lack of team chemistry flushed that game plan down the drain.

James and Davis both missed significant stretches, while Westbrook never bought into the system Frank Vogel was selling. Los Angeles was forced to regularly change lineups, and James, Davis and Westbrook ended up playing just 21 games together.

It all resulted in a miserable 33-win season that cost Vogel his job.

"Obviously, our roster did not work," general manager Rob Pelinka said, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

The Lakers now look to regroup and reload, and the process begins with finding a new head coach. The next step will be tweaking a roster that did not work, and that may be L.A.'s biggest challenge of the offseason.

The Lakers were awarded the No. 8 pick in Tuesday's draft lottery, but that selection is going to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Davis trade. Their ability to be players in free agency is extremely limited by a bloated payroll that isn't likely to see significant cap relief this offseason.

Los Angeles would be helped tremendously by Westbrook turning down his $47 million player option for the 2022-23 season. However, he's unlikely to get anything close to that on the open market and therefore has little reason not to opt in.

Trading Westbrook and his massive salary would be tricky, too, and that's if the Lakers would even consider trying.

According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, they're instead interested in finding a coach who will build around him:

"Despite the widely held belief that the Lakers would find a way to trade Westbrook before the start of next season, sources say their coaching candidates have been asked to discuss how they would use him in their system during interviews. The takeaway for candidates, it seems, is that maximizing Westbrook's presence after his disastrous 2021-22 season is considered an important part of this job."

What's left for the Lakers if they can't find help in the draft, spend big or move Westbrook? Aside from lucking into another undrafted gem like Austin Reaves, the Lakers will need to move their top role players.

While much of L.A.'s supporting cast is underwhelming, the Lakers do have a pair of potential trade chips in Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn.

According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, the two are still valued around the league:

"Surprisingly, that value was not left entirely reduced to ashes by the tire fire that was the Lakers’ 2021-22 season. In fact, a handful of coaches and executives from around the league told Heavy.com that they still very much believe in Horton-Tucker as a prospect, and in Nunn—balky knee and all—as a solid contributor."

Because of injuries—he played only 56 games last season and didn't see the court this year because of a knee injury—Nunn's value may be minimal. He can also play a key role for Los Angeles as a perimeter shooter, something the Lakers desperately need around James and Davis.

Nunn shot 38.1 percent from beyond the arc in the 2020-21 season. If the Lakers decide to punt on his potential return, though, moving him would make sense.

Horton-Tucker, meanwhile, has shown flashes of promise throughout his three seasons but hasn't been developed in Los Angeles. Other teams would be eager to give him an opportunity.

"He is 21 years old. He is playing for the Lakers and development is not the biggest thing there," one Western Conference executive said, per Deveney. "I think most of us would take him on our team in a minute. He is big (6'4") and long, he can handle the ball, he can initiate the offense, he will be a good defender even if he is not there yet. He has value."

For many franchises, moving on from Horton-Tucker before he's a finished product wouldn't make sense. However, the Lakers appear far more interested in trying to win now than developing their younger cast. For them, moving Horton-Tucker would be logical for the right return.

That's the kicker, though. While Horton-Tucker and Nunn may have value, Los Angeles cannot expect a massive return in a trade. We're still talking about role players, one coming off of injury and one whose upside is his biggest asset.

Per Deveney, one executive "threw out" hypotheticals like Miami Heat shooter Duncan Robinson, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley and Houston Rockets center Christian Wood.

Without trading future draft capital as part of a deal—and Los Angeles can't move a first-rounder earlier than their 2027 selection—any trade will likely be a swap of supporting players. That might be enough to improve the cast around James, Davis and Westbrook, but it will all depend on who the Lakers can land.

A shooter like Robinson would be a tremendous asset, but Nunn can fill the role if the Lakers believe he'll be healthy next season. We're unlikely to see a deal involving Horton-Tucker and/or Nunn that suddenly makes L.A. look like a title contender. However, it would be more favorable than anything involving Westbrook.

After Westbrook's disappointing 2021-22 campaign, Los Angeles might have to move that 2027 first-rounder just to unload his salary. That's even less ideal.

If Los Angeles is going to make any significant changes this offseason, it will have to involve the head coach and the players' approach. Finding a way to maximize Westbrook's talents would be a great start there.

However, the Lakers do have trade options in Horton-Tucker and Nunn if they choose to utilize them. We're unlikely to see a major roster overhaul, but L.A. can shake up its supporting cast in the coming months.

Zach LaVine will be a free agent this offseason, and the media darling of 2017, LaVar Ball, believes the Chicago Bulls star will be heading west to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Ball made that prediction during an appearance on the The ReKap (27:10 mark):

He's gone. And I'm gonna tell you why. OK, it started off Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine. OK, now you get hurt, a few things happen, and guess who's doing all the big plays. All I hear is DeMar [DeRozan]. DeMar, DeMar, DeMar. He don't want to play second fiddle. And who don't want to go to L.A.? He wanna go back to the West Coast. ... If he got a chance to go there? I guarantee you he ain't no fool.

LaVine, who grew up in the Seattle suburbs and went to UCLA, might like to head back to the West Coast. Playing alongside superstars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis and chasing a title could be appealing (though if LaVine wasn't thrilled about becoming the No. 2 guy in Chicago, as Ball posited, how much would he enjoy being the third fiddle on the Lakers?). He might seek the glitz and glamor that comes with being a young, rich celebrity in a city like Los Angeles. 

The issue, of course, is that the Lakers have basically no realistic path to clear the needed cap space to sign him. 

Assuming Russell Westbrook opts in to his $47.1 million player option for the 2022-23 season—and no matter how bad this past campaign went, it wouldn't be worth leaving that much money on the table just to escape, considering he might not get half of it in free agency—the Lakers owe $139.9 million to just four players (Westbrook, James, AD and Talen Horton-Tucker). Kendrick Nunn also has a $5.3 million player option that could further bloat their cap sheet if he opts in. 

That alone will take them well over the projected $122 million soft cap, meaning their only avenue for signing free agents is minimum contracts and the taxpayer mid-level exception. LaVine, meanwhile, is going to get the max. 

One option would be a sign-and-trade deal in which Westbrook opts in, is dealt to the Bulls, and LaVine signs a max deal with Chicago (five years, $212 million) that would pay him $36.6 million next season before being traded to the Lakers. 

But that is extremely unlikely. 

For one, the Bulls would need to want Westbrook and his massive contract. With LaVar's son Lonzo Ball already in place at point guard, downgrading from LaVine to Westbrook while dipping deep into the luxury tax is nonsensical. 

There's a pretty strong argument to be made that if the Bulls can't re-sign LaVine, they would be better off losing him in free agency and utilizing their remaining cap space elsewhere than they would be acquiring Westbrook in a sign-and-trade.

And even if the Lakers somehow pulled off that heist, they'd be hard-capped with a whole slew of roster slots to fill. The supporting cast could end up being thin like it was this season. 

The other option would be for the Lakers to find a way to trade both Westbrook and Horton-Tucker to teams with ample cap space, which would give them the cap flexibility to then sign LaVine to a four-year, $157 million deal. Again, though, teams would make the Lakers hand over serious assets to take on that Westbrook contract, which L.A. simply doesn't have after giving up the farm to land Davis in 2019.  

For rebuilding teams, cap space is an asset they can use to accumulate draft capital. Nobody is going to take on Westbrook's contract out of the goodness of their heart. 

So even if LaVine actually wanted to get to Los Angeles, he would need the Bulls or some other team to help him out in a huge way. Given these particular circumstances, that feels incredibly unlikely, despite LaVar's prediction.

Despite a disappointing finish to the 2021-22 season, expectations remain high for the Los Angeles Lakers going into next year. With star players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, anything short of title contention is a failure.

However, the Lakers face major questions this offseason, including who will be the team's next head coach. The other significant dilemma that must be addressed is what to do with point guard Russell Westbrook.

The former NBA MVP had a disastrous first season with his hometown team, becoming the scapegoat for much of Los Angeles' struggles throughout the year. Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from three-point range. It was his first time averaging under 20 points since his second year in the NBA.

While many have speculated that the Lakers parting ways with Westbrook is an inevitability, there are signs that point to the 33-year-old remaining in purple and gold next season. 

Dan Woike of the LA Times reported Wednesday that the Lakers "haven’t ruled anything out when it comes to Westbrook’s future." The Athletic's Sam Amick reported on Monday that coaching candidates are being asked how they'd use Westbrook in their systems during their interviews with Los Angeles.

"The takeaway for candidates, it seems, is that maximizing Westbrook’s presence after his disastrous 2021-22 season is considered an important part of this job," Amick wrote.

If Westbrook sticks around next year, can the Lakers be the title contenders they're expected to be?

In a perfect world, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Westbrook, James and Davis are talented enough to carry a team to success. The three All-Stars will be more familiar with one another going into their second year together, which should result in more efficient play when they share the floor.

Westbrook is a polarizing player because his high-octane play and triple-double production have never amounted to winning when it mattered most. It's unlikely that he'll develop a consistent outside shot in his 15th season, but he's still one of the most skilled players at his position. It will be up to the Lakers' next head coach to figure out how to bring the best out of Westbrook while masking his deficiencies.

Perhaps allowing Westbrook to play more with the second unit would allow him to return to the level of production we're used to seeing from him. It would be a bold move for the next coach to switch Westbrook's role to sixth man, but a thunderbolt like him off the bench to torment opposing second units is an intriguing prospect.

Of course, the Lakers have to remain healthy if they hope to contend for a title. James and Davis missed a combined 66 games last season, hurting any chances of developing proper chemistry.

Westbrook is capable of being a secondary option on a title-contending team. But the best way for him to do that is to fully buy into it.

The Los Angeles Lakers' experiment of partnering Russell Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis this past season was, by most accounts, a failure. It provided plenty of discussion points for the media, but the results on the court were disastrous.

Los Angeles finished with a paltry 33 wins, missed the postseason entirely and fired coach Frank Vogel following the season.

While the Lakers watch the conference finals from home, they're busy working on changes for the 2022-23 season. A significant overhaul, however, is extremely unlikely.

There are multiple reasons for this, starting with the fact that L.A. won't have a first-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft. The team was awarded the No. 8 pick in Tuesday's draft lottery, but that selection is going to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Davis trade—a fact New Orleans was quick to celebrate on social media.

L.A.'s top-heavy roster is also a problem in terms of salary. According to Spotrac, the Lakers roster will cost $175.4 million next season, which means big free-agent signings are off the table. They're unlikely to glean cap relief from Westbrook, who will presumably exercise his $47 million player option.

Unless the Lakers are willing to part with future draft assets, Westbrook is the organization's biggest trade chip. Some might say that moving him would be good for the team, too, as Westbrook never found chemistry with the rest of the roster and had a disconnect with Vogel over his role in the offense.

"I think it's unfortunate, to be honest, because I've never had an issue with any of my coaches before," Westbrook said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I'm not sure what his issue was with me or I'm not sure why, but I can't really give you an answer to why we really never connected."

However, finding a team to take on Westbrook and give up anything of value would be tricky. And the latest rumors seem to indicate that this isn't the route Los Angeles wants to take.

According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, L.A. has made Westbrook a focal point of its coaching search:

"Despite the widely held belief that the Lakers would find a way to trade Westbrook before the start of next season, sources say their coaching candidates have been asked to discuss how they would use him in their system during interviews. The takeaway for candidates, it seems, is that maximizing Westbrook's presence after his disastrous 2021-22 season is considered an important part of this job."

There has been some buzz about coaching adviser Phil Jackson preferring to trade James, though it's hard to pin down a source.

"I've heard that Phil would like LeBron traded," Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times told The Doug Gottlieb Show (h/t Jacob Rude of Silver Screen and Roll). "I've just heard that, but I've got nothing to back that up. No on-the-record stuff to back that up. I do know that Phil would like to keep Westbrook and try to make that work with him."

Even if Jackson would like to see James elsewhere, the 37-year-old appears destined to stay in L.A. for at least another season.

"If LeBron James ultimately decides against signing an extension with the Lakers in August, sources say [team president Jeanie] Buss wouldn't see his desire to play out the final season of his contract as a reason to consider trading him," Amick wrote earlier this month.

If the Lakers are going to see significant changes next season, they're going to have to come from a strategic standpoint and from the players themselves. James, Westbrook and Co. have to find ways to operate more effectively, and the next head coach may have to utilize a novel approach.

Trying to fit the roster into Vogel's system obviously didn't pan out. Likely as a result, the Lakers aren't locked into hiring another veteran coach, as Jovan Buha of The Athletic recently wrote:

"Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka made it clear that the team was going to take their time with the search and that one of the most important coaching qualities would be gravitas. That suggests a coach with experience, but several of the first-year candidates they've been linked to are former players that are known to command respect."

Buha noted that there isn't a clear front-runner for the job, though he mentioned Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham and former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts as the two early favorites.

Eric Nehm of The Athletic mentioned Bucks assistant Charles Lee as another target for the Lakers.

Whether Los Angeles goes with an experienced head coach or a first-timer, it needs to find someone who will command the respect of and work with the team's big personalities. If the sort of player-coach disconnect we saw this past season exists, the Lakers will have little hope of improving.

It's going to require a total team effort from the players, the front office and the next coach for Los Angeles to be successful in the 2022-23 season. Finding the right fit for Westbrook should be one of the first steps.

"When the decision was made to fire Vogel, there was a belief from on high that Westbrook wasn't put in a position to succeed," Amick wrote.

Enough cohesion could bring the sort of on-court change that the Lakers need—and it's the only real change fans are likely to see.

Outside of a few tweaks to the supporting cast, it's looking like next year's roster will be much the same as the one we watched this past season.

Patrick Beverley believes the Los Angeles Lakers would make the Western Conference Finals with a defined leader. More specifically, he believes he is the leader the franchise needs.

Speaking with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's Stephen A's World, Beverley said that if he was a free agent and joined the Lakers, the team would make the playoffs and reach the conference finals.

"No discredit to LeBron James, but he's doing so much," Beverley said. "... Who's their leader? Who's telling LeBron, 'Hey LeBron, you gotta be low man, bro. That ain't your help out. You gotta X-out.' No one's telling him that. Not on a consistent basis. I'm gonna tell everyone that because I want to win."

Beverley's comments come after he said during an appearance on ESPN's This Just In with Max Kellerman that he would love to join the Lakers if he was a free agent to "play with a great" like James and "be able to pick his brain." He also said he would enjoy playing alongside Russell Westbrook.

Beverley is under contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves through the 2022-23 season, so there's always a possibility he joins the Lakers for the 2023-24 campaign. However, both James and Westbrook will be unrestricted free agents in 2023. If they leave, it's unclear if Beverley would still be interested in joining the Purple and Gold.

That said, Beverley could be a welcomed addition to just about any team hoping to contend for an NBA title. While he's not necessarily an offensive impact player, he's a three-time All-Defensive selection and his passion, intensity and effort, are unmatched by most players in the league.

Beverley has helped transform the energy in Minnesota and with that helped the franchise finish with its best record (46-36) since the 2017-18 campaign. Even Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was quick to laud the 10-year veteran while speaking with reporters in February. 

"He's a guy that we value greatly, a guy that we want to go forward with," Finch said. "His leadership has been phenomenal. We knew it was going to be good, it's been even better than expected. His production and play on court has been really, really good. Changes personality on our team in a lot of ways."

Though he's known for his lockdown defense, he also averaged 9.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the floor during the 2021-22 season, in addition to 4.6 assists in 58 games. 

While most would dispute Beverley's assertion that the Lakers lacked a leader during the 2021-22 season, the team seemed to suffer from a lack of chemistry thanks to injuries to James and Anthony Davis, and inconsistency from Westbrook.

Beverley could help bring a more competitive mindset to this Lakers squad, but the franchise undoubtedly has a lot more work to do this summer as it looks for a new coach and aims to become a championship contender again next season. 

In 1960, the Lakers left Minneapolis for Los Angeles. Sixty-two years later, Patrick Beverley is trying to coax the team's biggest star to leave Los Angeles for Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves guard made an appearance on ESPN's Get Up on Tuesday and made a pitch to recruit LeBron James.

"Should he stay in L.A. if he wants to win a title? I don't think that's up to him," Beverley said. "... You just seen Jeanie Buss get on TV talking about how unhappy she is and all of that, etc. So I don't even think it's up to LeBron. I think it's up to the ownership. I think it's up to the organization.

"... He's LeBron James. He could stay. He could really go anywhere and try to make a championship happen. ... I want him with the Minnesota Timberwolves. And I don't want to get our team fined either, so I'm trying to give the right answer. I would love him with Minnesota. We're a young group of guys. We got a little experience. We got a lot of toughness. We got a lot of athleticism. He could help mentor Anthony Edwards. But I don't want my team to get fined."

While Beverley made headlines with the comment, the odds that James will leave Los Angeles for Minneapolis are remote. If the Timberwolves want to land James, perhaps they could prioritize drafting his son Bronny in 2024.

James has maintained on multiple occasions that he wants to finish his career by playing alongside his son.

As far as which franchise would give LeBron the better chance at winning, that seems to be pretty obviously Minnesota. The Wolves finished with 13 more wins than the Lakers during the regular season and have a deep roster full of solid young talent highlighted by Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.

A Big Three including James would make the Wolves title contenders. It's just a pipe dream. 

LeBron James may have never entered an NBA slam dunk contest, but he still thinks he'd be an all-timer if he had.

James named himself, Vince Carter, Zach LaVine and Dominique Wilkins as his all-time slam dunk contest as part of a Twitter Q&A on Monday:

Carter, LaVine and Wilkins are all stellar choices who have all-time great dunk contest performances on their resume. LaVine and Wilkins are among the five players who won the event twice, and Carter's performance at the 2000 All-Star weekend is arguably the greatest in history.

James, despite near-constant public pressure early in his career, never made the plunge and participated in the contest. His reasoning behind not doing the contest has varied over the years. He's blamed injuries and other times simply said he did not want to participate.

Among fans, it's perhaps the biggest "what if?" of LeBron's historic career. The one iconic moment he, for whatever reason, decided not to provide.

That said, James' confidence in his dunking ability hasn't wavered despite his lack of dunk contest resume. 

Candidates for the Los Angeles Lakers' head coaching vacancy have reportedly been asked how point guard Russell Westbrook would fit within their offensive system.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Monday it "remains unclear" whether a favorite has emerged to replace Frank Vogel, but those who've interviewed with the Lakers came away with the feeling finding a role for Westbrook is an "important part of this job."

Prevailing wisdom suggested the Lakers would try to move on from the 2016-17 NBA MVP given his lackluster performance during his first season in L.A. and the team's failure to make the playoffs despite a roster that also features LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

That's easier said than done, however. Westbrook is a virtual lock to pick up the player option in his five-year, $206.8 million contract, which includes a $47.1 million salary-cap hit for the 2022-23 season.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to trade him at that salary, and then it would come down to how much each side is willing to budge in negotiations for a contract buyout.

While a move is still possible, it sounds like the Lakers are at least preparing for a world in which their core for next season is once again James, Davis and Westbrook.

Los Angeles' new coach would be tasked with getting the nine-time All-Star back to a level where he's at least a positive contributor under that scenario.

Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, his lowest figure since 2009-10, along with 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4 percent from the field, including 29.8 percent on threes, across 78 appearances this season. He ranked 231st out of 250 qualified players in FiveThirtyEight's WAR metric (-0.7).

Not all of that dip in performance can be attributed to the presence of James and Davis, either. The two superstars combined to miss 68 games because of injuries, so there were plenty of chances for Westbrook to fill a larger role, and he continued to struggle.

So if the Lakers do plan to keep the 33-year-old UCLA product, helping him find success will undoubtedly be the biggest task on their plate during their first year in charge.

As it stands, Michael Corvo of Clutch Points reported the list of confirmed candidates includes Terry Stotts, Mark Jackson, Adrian Griffin, Darvin Ham, Charles Lee and Kenny Atkinson, though Los Angeles has been linked to several other coaches, as well.

It'll likely take the Lakers a while to sort through the high number of coaching options, but the sooner they make a decision, the quicker the front office can shift its focus to a second straight offseason with a lot of roster movement.