With Fran Vogel out as head coach of the Lakers, team GM Rob Pelinka is already working to find his replacement.
While several names have emerged in the coaching search, Utah’s Quin Snyder seems to be the one L.A. is eyeing the most.
According to Marc Stein, the interest in Snyder is tangible and serious.
The Lakers have ‘serious’ interest in Quin Snyder, per @TheSteinLine
(Via https://t.co/4UfjHBwz80) pic.twitter.com/BKzdNgXjNF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 29, 2022
Under Snyder’s leadership, the Jazz have been among the NBA’s best regular-season teams for years. Utah has also enjoyed having an elite defense, something that the Purple and Gold want desperately.
After falling short for another consecutive year, there are rumblings Snyder might have coached his last game for Utah — but it remains to be seen if he has any interest in coaching the Lakers.
According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, the way the Lakers handled Vogel’s firing may have decreased Snyder’s desire to take over.
“Snyder, who is known for having very good offensive sets and a solid defensive foundation, has led the Jazz to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. He was an assistant with the Lakers while on the staff of coach Mike Brown in 2011-2012. Not only is Snyder under contract with the Jazz for at least one more season, people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said he has become less interested in the Lakers’ job because of how the Vogel firing was handled.”
Besides the ugly and borderline unprofessional departure of Vogel (the news was broke by Woj minutes after the season finale), there are a lot of things that might make the Lakers less appealing to coaching candidates.
LeBron James is 37, and who knows how much longer he can stay elite. Anthony Davis is unreliable, and the frequency of his injuries has been enough to derail the past two seasons for L.A.
There’s also Russell Westbrook, who clashed with Vogel and his staff from the very beginning.
So it’s hard to say if Snyder will leave the Jazz for a messy situation in L.A. If he does, it will only lead to more questions about what we should expect from this team heading into the new season.
