J.J. Redick and James Borrego have emerged as the top two names in the Lakers‘ coaching search, but there’s increased speculation about Monty Williams if the Pistons let him go, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column (subscription required). Detroit is going through an organizational shakeup after Trajan Langdon took over as head of basketball operations, and it’s possible that Williams could be replaced along with general manager Troy Weaver, even though Williams still has five years remaining on the $78MM contract he signed last summer.
Stein points out that the Lakers have pursued Williams before. Prior to hiring Frank Vogel in 2019, L.A. first reached out to Tyronn Lue, then turned to Williams after negotiations with Lue fell apart. Williams chose an offer from the Suns over the Lakers.
Signs still point to Redick as the favorite to be the next head coach, with the Lakers hoping to add Borrego as an assistant. However, Stein hears skepticism around the league that the Pelicans would agree to release their associate head coach from his contract for a lateral move.
There could be a small source of conflict if Redick is the selection, Stein adds, noting that Redick, who’s an awards voter due to his role as a broadcaster with ESPN, didn’t put Anthony Davis on his ballot for first or second team All-Defense honors. Davis finished fourth in the DPOY voting.
Stein shares more inside information from around the league:
- The Pacers‘ Andrew Nembhard raised his value with a stellar postseason performance and some teams are now convinced that he can be a successful lead guard, sources tell Stein. That could eventually result in offers greater than what Indiana can give him in an extension this summer. Nembhard is only owed $2MM next season, so a four-year extension that replaces his 2025/26 team option would be worth about $75MM. Without an extension, the Pacers could make Nembhard a restricted free agent next summer by turning down their option for ’25/26 and issuing a qualifying offer. That would allow them to match any offer he gets on the open market.
- Pacers forward Pascal Siakam is still considering whether to represent Cameroon in an Olympic qualifying tournament next month, Stein adds. One complication is that Siakam is expected to verbally commit to a new contract with Indiana before the start of free agency on June 30. However, the moratorium prevents that deal from being finalized until July 6, which is after the start of the international competition. Siakam may be reluctant to risk injury before his new deal is official.
- A source tells Stein that the Cavaliers have reasons to be optimistic about their chances of an offseason extension with Donovan Mitchell. There has been repeated speculation that Mitchell might be moved this summer if he doesn’t make a long-term commitment.
My guess is that Lakers GMs want Mitchell and Rich Paul wants Garland
delete
Garland trade idea
Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, a salary filler and 17th pick
DLo is likely to join Magic or Pistons as a free agent if Lakers are not able to persuade him.
Dlo wants money.
That’s your best comment in ages…
How about a real head coach.
Best defender voting is always hard cause it’s like a pick and chose what number you think means more. Bigs naturally should get more rebounds and blocks while guards tend to get more steals. All three stats very actually paint a picture of good defender or not.
It’s also partly a team stat by defensive rating, box+/- and so on.
I think in today’s game we overvalue team defence as player defence. Just look at Gobert, who puts up meh stats, consistently has his team beat the best defensively in the league but on ball gets torched. I like it if my guys are better on ball defenders and I can give them an assignment and they handle it.
Anthony Davis, kinda does abit of both without being truly elite at either. Obviously puts up great numbers, he leads his team on defence, calls the rotations and makes the adjustments, while covering for others and on ball he can do a job stopping guys. However he ain’t a lockdown guy and he ain’t strictly a team defender covering all the holes.
Why? Cause he’s also a solid offensive player who can bang inside and out, and his team needs him to get 25+ in order to win. So it’s tough on him being in the middle of trying to please everyone. Ultimately tho I’d have him in the top 10 defenders JJ
Stein getting paid well by Monty’s agent I see…
The only way Monty is coaching an NBA team is if the Pistons are dumb enough to give him that 2nd year…
He clearly checked out…
If Davis would actually be salty enough about Redick’s hypothetical ballot voting to let it affect their coach/player relationship, that would be ridiculous.
That being said, I know I’ve commented before that IMO, hiring someone inexperienced in coaching like JJ Redick is a mistake for a team that has both the ultimate superstar player and an otherwise poor supporting cast besides Davis. It seems like next season is bound to be a disappointment for the Lakers, and hiring an inexperienced coach is going to look like such bad organizational judgment in retrospect if it does turn out that way. Honestly, if they have a successful season in ’24/’25, I would be surprised and give Redick all the props in the world for marshaling those role players into postseason-caliber pieces. I know they’re hamstrung by big contracts, but they really need a Mike Conley-type and some bench veterans with leadership capabilities like LeBron had in Miami.
And I’m putting all of this in a traderumors comment section because the world is waiting impatiently on my take on this.
I do the same thing though because it’s just fun to talk ball. Sometimes I just have a lot of thoughts that I want to type out even though I know that the teams aren’t listening to me lol
Appreciate the validation. I get pumped about sports stuff and have literally zero friends that have any interest whatsoever in sports. My dad used to watch NASCAR, but now just b*tches that Dale Earnhardt is dead and Jr. is retired. He’s a bald white guy. Go figure.