The Los Angeles Lakers will move on from head coach Darvin Ham sooner rather than later.
“The latest I’ve heard is the plan is still to move on from Darvin [Ham] at some point, likely by the end of the week, potentially as early as tomorrow, then the head coaching search will start,” NBA insider Jovan Buha says on The Athletic NBA Show.
“I’ve already started to hear some names from different people.”
Lakers’ Timeline on Darvin Ham Decision Revealed?
Despite coaching the Lakers to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, Ham faced heavy criticism throughout the 2023-24 season. Many of the questions surrounding Ham were about his lineup decisions. His in-game adjustments were also questioned, particularly in the playoffs.
With eight seasons of NBA experience, the former swingman should’ve had a better eye for how to run an NBA offense. At least that’s the general consensus. Unfortunately for L.A., while Ham’s old-school smashmouth approach fit their roster, they were too many players that weren’t put in the best position.
Putting Players in the Right Position
Ham was rigid in his determination to start Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince. This despite the former’s streaky offense and the latter’s general inconsistency.
After Austin Reaves’ and Rui Hachimura’s exemplary performances against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, he didn’t give them much runway to take off offensively.
The oft-cited absence of Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt prevented them from maximizing their perimeter defense. However, they had little to do with why the Lakers were 18th in offensive rating (114.5) before of the All-Star Break despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis having their best regular season as a duo.
That’s on Ham.
When L.A. lost to the Nuggets in the First Round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, it was largely because of D’Angelo Russell’s up-and-down performance. Despite a couple of high-scoring outings, Reaves wasn’t particularly reliable offensively. Hachimura couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn.
Yet, in spite of the natural inclination to focus on their individual shortcomings, habits are built throughout the season. To that point, when the playoffs started, Russell is the only one of the aforementioned players had the opportunity to consistently play at the level he needed to be at in the postseason.
That’s on Ham.
Whether or not that’s a fireable offense in the grand scheme of things is worth questioning. To that end, the Lakers are doing right by Ham by not making a knee-jerk decision about his future. However, with James seeming to seriously consider leaving L.A. in free agency, the Lakers are in a precarious position. A coaching change could help them find stable ground.
If so, three names come to mind: Mike Budenholzer, Phil Handy, and JJ Redick.
Mike Budenholzer
Budenholzer is the type of veteran head coach whose reputation will precede him. That’ll make it easier for players to buy into his program. Winning a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, he also knows how to run a top-tier offense led by an athletic playmaking forward.
Phil Handy
Handy is well-liked and well-respected by the Lakers’ locker room, particularly James. Coaching for the Lakers since 2019, Handy was considered to be their third choice when they hired now Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel to lead the team. A three-time NBA champion, Handy’s learned tricks of the trade from Mike Brown, Ty Lue, and Nick Nurse.
JJ Redick
With Redick a hot name in coaching circles, Buha has speculated he could be a candidate for the vacancy. The 14-year NBA veteran is highly knowledgeable, earning so much that James started a podcast with him that’s meant to teach the game.
Redick doesn’t have any coaching experience higher than the youth level. However, Steve Kerr made a similar jump with the Golden State Warriors in 2014. The Warriors have won four championships since.
