The Lakers are going to miss the playoffs for the sixth year in a row this season and with that comes a heavy price. Los Angeles holds itself to a higher standard than this. Especially after a summer that resulted in LeBron James joining with the Lakers. When you have the best player of a generation then failure is just not an option.
This is why it’s heavily assumed that Lakers coach Luke Walton will be fired at the end of the season. The next hire the Lakers make could be their most important hire since Phil Jackson originally left the Lakers following the 2010-11 NBA season.
They have talented young players, James, and tons of cap space to build with this summer. They have to nail this hire. They need someone that can bring them to a championship. Well, if a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski comes to fruition, that coach could be former Nets and Bucks coach Jason Kidd.
Kidd will be among the serious candidates for the Lakers coaching job if Luke Walton is dismissed, league sources tell ESPN. That’s expected to give Kidd some pause on pursuing the Cal opening now. https://t.co/mm1SHCcVNJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 24, 2019
Kidd has recently been linked to the open job at Cal, but considering that he’s an NBA guy the assumption is that the would prefer to coach in the NBA than he would in college. So, if the Lakers are interested in him, they are the likely front runners in hiring him.
Of course, the real question is why would the Lakers even want Kidd. He did play with James on Team USA back in 2008, but Kidd’s credentials as a coach are not fantastic. He has playoff experience, but it never felt like he got the most out of a Bucks team that is now the top seed in the East this year. Bigger than that have been issues with how he acts in an organizational structure. Kidd has spent his entire coaching career fighting with management, making power plays to try and gain more control, and at times alienating players. Considering how chaotic the Lakers have been the last decade maybe it’s a bad idea to then follow that up by hiring a coach known for bringing a lack of stability to the rosters he coaches.
He’s not won to the level of a coach who can make such leverage plays for power, which has to be at least somewhat a concern. The Lakers can choose to hire Kidd if they want, but he seems far from a slam dunk to bring the team back to prominence.
