Last week, the stunning news emerged that the Los Angeles Lakers were in hot pursuit of UConn head coach Dan Hurley and were preparing to make him a big-money offer to make him leave the college ranks and move to the NBA.
Today, more stunning news emerged, with Hurley opting to take a crack at leading UConn to a third straight national championship and turning down a reported six-year, $70 million offer from one of the NBA’s most storied and successful franchises.
While it was certainly no sure thing at any point that Hurley was going to take the offer, when such speculation comes about and involves the kind of numbers mentioned, a different outcome is widely expected.
As the Lakers’ search for a new head coach continues, there are three big questions to mull over:
- Why did Hurley turn down the Lakers?
- Did Hurley make the right decision to turn down the Lakers?
- With Hurley out of the picture, who will the Lakers hire as their next head coach?
First, let’s take a look at the latest odds for who will be the pick to move into the hot seat when the search finally comes to an end.
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Los Angeles Lakers Next Head Coach Odds
- JJ Redick, NBA analyst & former player -500
- James Borrego, current New Orleans Pelicans assistant & former Charlotte Hornets head coach +300
- Sam Cassell, Boston Celtics assistant & former NBA player +900
- Tyronn Lue, Los Angeles Clippers head coach +1600
- Chris Quinn, Miami Heat assistant & former NBA player +1600
- Kenny Atkinson, Golden State Warriors assistant & former Brooklyn Nets head coach +1800
- David Adelman, Denver Nuggets assistant & son of Hall of Fame head coach Rick Adelman +1800
See the rest of the Lakers next coach odds at BetOnline. Want to know more about BetOnline? Check out our BetOnline sportsbook review. If you are interested in trying them out, you can get a 100% bonus (up to $1000) if your first deposit is with cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, etc.).
Why Did Dan Hurley Turn Down the Lakers?
Two decades ago, the Lakers found themselves in a similar position. In 2004, they courted Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski after firing Phil Jackson following their NBA Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons.
But like Hurley, he chose to remain at Duke. There, he finished with five national titles before retiring in 2022 with 1,129 wins. In addition, he led the USA men’s basketball team to three Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012, 2016) and two FIBA World Cup titles (2010, 2014) in a highly successful stint as head coach.
There are no guarantees that Hurley will reach or approach Coach K’s status by spurning the Lakers to remain at UConn. But he has the resources and support, and those resources are unlikely to change soon, even in the ever-evolving world of college basketball.
This past season, Hurley’s Huskies became the first program to win back-to-back national championships since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007.
Next season, he will look to lead only the second three-peat in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament history. His squad will certainly be much different, it must be said. Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle, Tristen Newton, and Cam Spencer, four of the team’s top five scorers, are off to the pros. That leaves junior-to-be Alex Karaban as the top returnee. Karaban has started 77 of 78 games in two seasons and averaged 13.3 PPG and 5.1 RPG last season.
But the Huskies suffered multiple notable losses after their 2023 title, only to be the last team standing again in 2024. With a wealth of returning talent and potential led by Karaban, a strong 2024 recruiting class, and transfer portal additions Aidan Mahaney (Saint Mary’s) and Tarris Reed Jr. (Michigan), UConn will once again be among the top March Madness favorites next season.
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Did Hurley Make the Right Decision?
With UConn poised for sustained success, Hurley has no reason to leave until or unless a can’t-miss opportunity comes up. That time may come, and it could very well come with the Lakers again at some point. But it looks like UConn is very much just getting started, and not abandoning that yet is understandable.
But did he make the right decision?
The opportunity to make a boatload of money and coach LeBron James and Anthony Davis, even in the back end of their careers, is not something to turn down lightly.
But remaining in Storrs is a much better bet than Los Angeles. It’s also a better bet than a move to Lexington, Kentucky. That was a rumored option when John Calipari departed for Arkansas in April.
If there was an ideal time to lead the Lakers, this is not it.
The Western Conference is absolutely loaded, and that likely won’t change soon.
Also, the Lakers have a vacancy because they parted ways with Darvin Ham after only two seasons. Ham replaced Frank Vogel just two seasons after Vogel led the Lakers to their 17th NBA Finals win.
Since Jackson’s second stint with the franchise ended in 2011, the Lakers have had six permanent head coaches. The longest-tenured of the six—in terms of games coached—is Luke Walton, who was at the helm for 246 regular season games from 2016 to 2019.
It may not be a poisoned chalice, but it’s certainly one to drink from with extreme caution.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the roster is riddled with questions. Hurley was offered a six-year deal, but who would he be working with at the back end of that contract or even in the middle of it? There are too many unknowns at this point.
Who Will the Lakers Hire as Head Coach?
With Hurley no longer an option, the focus shifts squarely back to JJ Redick. The ESPN analyst and longtime NBA player was considered the favorite before the Hurley news emerged.
Redick is once again the favorite, but will he receive an offer? And if he does receive an offer, will he take it?
The former Duke star and 2006 NBA Draft first-round pick has no coaching experience on this level, but with his basketball acumen, Redick appears destined to be a head coach at some point. Hiring him would be risky for a franchise trying to win right now, but the Lakers would be getting him before someone else could bag him and benefit.
If the search goes beyond Redick, former Hornets coach Borrego seems to be the next option in line. In four seasons with the Hornets (2018-22), Borrego went 138-163 with no playoff appearances.
Just as Redick’s last of coaching experience doesn’t disqualify him from the job, Borrego’s lack of success with the Hornets doesn’t disqualify him either, considering the state of that franchise during his tenure.
Could Cassell, a three-time NBA champion and longtime assistant with the Wizards, Clippers, 76ers, and Celtics, finally get his shot at a head job? He has earned one, but if things play out according to the current odds for the Lakers job, the search won’t make it to him.
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