With Mike Budenholzer headed to the Phoenix Suns and Tyronn Lue likely not available this offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers need to cast a wide net when it comes to their head coaching search.
It looks like they will do exactly that. They have their top candidates, including former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson and former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick. David Adelman and Micah Nori, who are assistants with the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively, are also candidates.
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers now have two more candidates who are currently assistants: Sean Sweeney and Chris Quinn (h/t Lakers Nation).
“I’ve also seen some other names floated out that I can confirm the Lakers have some interest in, with those being Micah Nori, David Adelman, Sean Sweeney and Chris Quinn.”
Sweeney is currently on Jason Kidd’s staff with the Dallas Mavericks, while Quinn is an assistant under Erik Spoelstra with the Miami Heat. While the Heat were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, Dallas took a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday in their second-round series.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers’ coaching search will begin in earnest at the upcoming draft combine, when they will likely start asking for permission to interview candidates who are currently assistants for other teams.
