Sources: Lakers to begin contacting head-coaching candidates

CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Lakers are anticipated to begin contacting teaching candidates within the coming days, with an preliminary focus on sitting assistants and ex-head coaches with whom they’ve much less familiarity, sources informed ESPN on Monday.

Lakers VP of Basketball Operations and normal supervisor Rob Pelinka has been gathering info on plenty of head-coaching candidates, together with ESPN analyst JJ Redick, sources stated. The preliminary wave of requests for interview permission might be with these the group hasn’t met with in earlier searches, or just is aware of lower than different candidates.

In Pelinka’s conversations with officers throughout the league, the time period “grinder” retains arising within the normal supervisor’s description of an essential attribute for the following coach, sources stated.

The preliminary interview checklist is predicted to incorporate assistant candidates comparable to Miami’s Chris Quinn and New Orleans’ James Borrego, sources stated.

The search is predicted to proceed in levels with this primary wave, then a interval of speaking to coaches with whom the Lakers have extra historical past, adopted by a whittling of the checklist to a last spherical of candidates, sources stated.

The Lakers fired Darvin Ham after two seasons earlier this month. Ham was 90-74 general, with a visit to the Western Convention finals in his debut season adopted by a five-game collection loss to the Denver Nuggets within the first spherical of the playoffs this 12 months.