It always comes back to 2019 when it comes to the Lakers’ recent coaching woes. At the time, the team had fired Luke Walton, were bringing in Anthony Davis to team up with LeBron James and appeared to be the dream job of anyone who might want to coach in the NBA.
The Lakers very confidently gave Ty Lue a lowball offer, of three years and $18 million, which he rejected and took more money from the Clippers. The Lakers also assumed their fallback option, Monty Williams, would be in place once Lue left. But the Lakers never formally offered a contract to Williams, so he took the job as the Suns coach.
It’s been as rocky a few years for Williams as it has been for the Lakers. Williams was fired by the Suns last year, got a record-setting six-year, $78.5 million deal from the Pistons last summer, and was fired one year into the contract on June 19.
Williams does not need to work again, not with more than $65 million still owed to him. But he could get back in the saddle and take over the Lakers team he rejected five years ago. Except it appears neither he nor the Lakers are interested in making another go of things.
Monty Williams Likely to Take Time Off
That’s the initial word from The Athletic insider Shams Charania, who appeared on the “Pat McAfee Show” and pretty much put the kibosh on the possibility of Williams heading to the Lakers.
“Monty Williams was definitely in play with the Lakers in 2019,” Charania said. “They went and hired Frank Vogel. It was really down to Ty Lue, they missed out on Ty Lue, they missed out Monty Williams. There has been interest there in the past, I have not heard — this just happened with Monty Williams. There have been rumblings that this was possible … I have not gotten the sense that Monty Williams is in the picture here. But listen, he is a two-time Coach of the Year.”
And Williams is probably not up for taking over a third team in three years, not after two bizarre and topsy-turvy seasons in Phoenix and Detroit.
Even before the firing of Williams became official, one NBA source told Heavy Sports, “The Lakers are not out there looking to widen their (coaching) search and besides, if anyone is due for a couple of years off, it is Monty Williams. He can afford it.”
Lakers Zeroing in on JJ Redick
Increasingly, it looks as though JJ Redick is the primary Lakers candidate, and perhaps now that the Finals are over, his coronation is coming soon. He has gone through the formal interview process and is one of a small pool of remaining possibilities after the team’s first choice—Connecticut’s Dan Hurley—turned them down.
Redick was an NBA player for 15 years. He has a wide gamut of NBA experience, having come into the league as a heralded and cocky lottery pick who was eventually flamed out and was humbled before he rebuilt his career as a top-tier 3-point shooter.
Redick, though, has no coaching experience. He has made his name in his post-playing days with his popular podcast “The Old Man and the 3,” which he parlayed into a spot on the ABC/ESPN broadcasting team and another podcast, started in March, with Lakers star LeBron James.
But that’s the breadth of his coaching experience. He has never before coached at any level, not in a head job nor as an assistant. Still, he is the favorite to find himself heading up the team in James’ waning NBA years.
The Lakers, it seems, won’t be in a rush to change course for Monty Williams.
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including "Fun City," "Before Wrigley became Wrigley," and "Facing Michael Jordan." More about Sean Deveney
