The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly eyeing a blockbuster move to convince reigning two-time NCAA Champion Dan Hurley to leave the University of Connecticut and make the switch to the NBA. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has reported that the Lakers have prepared a massive contract offer for the champion coach and are escalating talks with him in the coming days.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting UConn’s Dan Hurley as the franchise’s next coach and are preparing a massive, long-term contract offer to bring the back-to-back NCAA national champion to the NBA, sources told ESPN.”
“The Lakers have had preliminary contact with Hurley and the sides are planning to escalate discussions in the coming days. Hurley has been at the forefront of the Lakers’ search from the beginning of the process, even while the organization has done its due diligence interviewing several other candidates, sources said.”
This is a massive update on the Lakers head coaching search, which has been one of the biggest talking points in basketball outside the NBA Finals. JJ Redick was reportedly finalized as the new head coach according to Shams Charania, but it seems the Lakers have a far more accomplished candidate who would be a rookie head coach in the NBA.
Along with leading UConn to back-to-back NCAA titles, Hurley was named the 2024 Naismith College Coach of the Year and the 2024 BIG EAST Coach of the Year. He is 141-58 in six seasons as the UConn coach and set an NCAA tournament record of 12 consecutive double-digit victories.
Hurley has expressed interest in moving over to the NBA before, with the Lakers role arguably being one of the most attractive jobs in the league. Unfortunately, it carries major risk for the NCAA head coach if it fails to work, possibly closing the door to further NBA opportunities if this goes wrong.
What Would Dan Hurley Mean For The Lakers?
Getting Hurley to abandon the NCAA for the NBA would be the biggest such move since Brad Stevens joined the Boston Celtics as head coach in 2013. The team will have similar expectations under Hurley, who is known for his team-building and player-development skills.
The move could also be influenced by the new team-building strategies required in the NBA for teams to find more sustainable routes of creating a contender under new cap rules.
“Part of the allure of Hurley traces back to the changing landscape of NBA roster building under the collective bargaining agreement. Because of the roster-building limitations of the new second-apron, the ability of big-market teams to construct contending rosters by trading multiple draft picks and young players for a third star player has largely been eliminated.”
“Beyond the 17th overall pick in this month’s draft, the Lakers have a young core of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Max Christie that management believes can still show even greater improvement under Hurley’s coaching, sources said.”
It can be presumed that LeBron James would welcome such a move, with the 39-year-old sharing posts on social media about Hurley recently while discussing his offensive schemes on his podcast with JJ Redick.
He’s so DAMN GOOD!!! Along with his staff. Super creative with their O! Love it
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 19, 2024
This shouldn’t eliminate Redick from the race, who might be the leading candidate for head coach if Hurley says no.
The 15-year NBA veteran would also make for a very interesting assistant coaching candidate for a staff to be built under Hurley, but all of that will be predicated on whether or not Hurley abandons the chance to three-peat and join the Lakers.
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