Lakers Reportedly Delaying Coaching Hire For A Shot At Melo And LeBron

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2014/06/lakers_reportedly_delay_coaching_hire_for_lebron_james_carme.html?p1=Topopage:Carousel_sub_headline



Lakers Reportedly Delay Coaching Hire For Shot At LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony
Gary Dzen
@GaryDzen
Boston.com Staff
JUNE 10, 2014 9:53 AM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary Dzen has covered one Celtics championship run and one 18-game losing streak. He was there for Belichick's 4th-and-2. He really, really likes IPAs.






Mike D'Antoni resigned as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on April 30, but the Lakers have yet to fill their vacant coaching position. The reason for the delay, an NBA source tells USA Today, is to time the hire with the upcoming free agency period. Specifically, the team is hoping to land Heat star LeBron James and Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, among other players at the top of the class.

James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all have player options with the Heat next season worth around $20 million. Anthony has a $23.5 million player option with the Knicks. The story also mentions Anthony joining those three in Miami to form a Big Four, though all players involved would have to take significant pay cuts.

Whether or not this works for Los Angeles, it's more evidence than ever that the NBA is a player-driven league. The Lakers likely won't have a coach in place for the June 26 NBA Draft, but the league source tells USA Today that is "not a necessity".



bob
MY NOTE:  I honestly don't know what to make of this.  On the surface it looks unfocused and wishing upon a star.  "Oh please, please opt out and come here!  Oh, please, please, please."  On the other hand, if it lands LBJ, then it's genius.  What it does say, though, is that the Lakers think "the coach and their system, personality and roster are practically irrelevant as long as we get a key player?".  Man, I'm sorry, but this just feels like the front office really thinks basketball is all about individualism.  I suppose, if they do get LBJ, coaching prospects will be flooding their doorways and completely forget/overlook that they showed no loyalty or stability whatsoever to any of their coaches for years now.  Not having a coach by the draft "not a necessity"?  Doesn't sound like the Lakers will be drafting for need since you need a system to know what your needs are, right?  Is this evidence the NBA is a "player-driven league" or is it just the post-Dr. Buss Lakers?  Sounds "Dim" to me.  TJ?


.

Bob,

There's no reason for the Lakers to hire a coach right now.
The Lakers are starting from scratch outside of Kobe and they could still sign or draft a SG and move Kobe to SF if they had to.
LA has needs everywhere.
Why hire a coach who has a system and make your players play that way? I agree that LA should go through the draft, try to sign a marquis free agent, then decide on a coach. What if LA signs LeBron and he wants Jeff Van Gundy as a coach? Well, JVP would get an offer from the Lakers.

I'm glad the Lakers are showing very good patience!

Why rush to hire??

Although, it would be hard to lure LBJ/Melo without a stable situation in place.



KJ

bobheckler wrote:Mike D'Antoni resigned as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on April 30, but the Lakers have yet to fill their vacant coaching position. The reason for the delay, an NBA source tells USA Today, is to time the hire with the upcoming free agency period. Specifically, the team is hoping to land Heat star LeBron James and Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, among other players at the top of the class.

That's nice, but I'll reserve my opinion until I hear something more than a blog post based on what "an NBA source" tells USA Today.

I will never, never assume there's almost anything the Lakers can pull off in terms of acquiring personnel. They did it with Kareem Alcindor. They did it with Kobe. They did it with Chamberlain. They did it with Shaq. They did it with Chris Mihm (only kidding). They did it with Payton, Malone, and Howard (although none of those worked out particularly well, but they were considered coups at the time of acquisition).

As for the timing of a coaching hire, I guess there are two schools of thought. One school is that a coach should be in place to have inputs as to the kind of system he'll be using and what combination of players might be well-suited to that system. The second school is that the players should be acquired, and then a coach who can work with that combination of players should be hired.

I happen to prefer the first system. Sounds like the Lakers are going the other way. Good. I always like it when they go the other way from what I think.

Sam

k_j_88 wrote:Why rush to hire??

Although, it would be hard to lure LBJ/Melo without a stable situation in place.



KJ

Was Miami in a stable situation when LeBron and Bosh were traded (signed) there?
After the 2009-10 season, Miami let every player go except for Dwayne Wade. They even traded a draft pick in order for Minnesota to take Beasley and his salary.
Erik Spoelstra was the coach when LeBron came there. He had 90 career wins as a head coach before LeBron and Bosh.

I would say the Miami situation is very similar to LA's situation now.

It's almost all about the players.
Coaches don't make teams great.

If LA can't get LeBron, then I don't want Carmelo.
If he was 26 or 27 I would say, go for it, but Carmelo is 30.
Carmelo and Kobe as the stars would not be a good fit.

TJ,

What do you think is the REALISTIC possibility that Kobe will ever be back as at least 805-90% of his old self?

Sam

I think teams should sign the best players available, not only ones that fit a particular coaches system.

The Lakers roster is almost bare.
Accumulate as much talent as possible first.

sam wrote:TJ,

What do you think is the REALISTIC possibility that Kobe will ever be back as at least 805-90% of his old self?

Sam

Sam,

I think Kobe will score 20 ppg this season.
Maybe 80%.
I think we will see the slippage mostly in his defense.
He is so smart offensively, he will adjust to a slower, more post game.

Kobe, LeBron, and Carmelo all need to be in control of the ball. The only reason that LeBron and Wade have worked out so well is that Wade stepped aside to let LeBron take the lead, and the only reason that transition worked well is that Wade is breaking down and can't dominate the ball like he used to.

Kevin Love, on the other hand, is an elite scorer who doesn't dominate the ball, which makes him fit better with other good players. He'd work better with LeBron than Carmelo.

tjmakz wrote:Was Miami in a stable situation when LeBron and Bosh were traded (signed) there?

After the 2009-10 season, Miami let every player go except for Dwayne Wade. They even traded a draft pick in order for Minnesota to take Beasley and his salary.

Erik Spoelstra was the coach when LeBron came there. He had 90 career wins as a head coach before LeBron and Bosh.

I would say the Miami situation is very similar to LA's situation now.

MIA's situation had *collusion* written all over it. They planned to all go to the same team, wherever it would be.


KJ

I would rather have LeBron and Erik Bledsoe over Carmelo.
I think Bledsoe will be one of the top pg's in the league this year.
It will probably take 4/$52m to sign Bledsoe.

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:Was Miami in a stable situation when LeBron and Bosh were traded (signed) there?

After the 2009-10 season, Miami let every player go except for Dwayne Wade. They even traded a draft pick in order for Minnesota to take Beasley and his salary.

Erik Spoelstra was the coach when LeBron came there. He had 90 career wins as a head coach before LeBron and Bosh.

I would say the Miami situation is very similar to LA's situation now.

MIA's situation had *collusion* written all over it. They planned to all go to the same team, wherever it would be.


KJ

Players do that all the time.
What happened to the Deron Williams/Dwight Howard "Agreement"?

Miami was the only team that could afford Bosh, James and Wade.
Some teams could afford two of them.

After the Finals, LeBron could talk to another free agent about playing for the same team.

With the expected increase in the salary cap and if LA waived Nash, they could mostly afford LeBron and a player like Bledsoe.
Carmelo and LeBron is not very realistic.