The Los Angeles Lakers have two things to do in the offseason, the first of which is to find a capable head coach who can replace Ham. At the moment, JJ Redick has taken over, but his abilities have not been recognized, after all, his greatest achievement is coaching his 10-year-old son to play elementary school basketball. On the Lakers' side, they helped a puppet coach to take the position, so they had to make a fuss on the assistant coach's side. After all, to find a competent assistant coach, all you have to do is let Reddick call the shots.
At the moment, there isn't much progress on the Lakers' side. Some well-known assistant coaches, such as Cassel, Borrego, and Van Gundy, were reluctant to come and make Redick the head assistant coach, and they couldn't get to face it.
According to Dave McMenamin of The Athletic, sources told ESPN that the Lakers have expressed interest in bringing Casey to JJ Redick as an assistant coach. Casey has coached for nearly 30 years, including as head coach with the Timberwolves, Raptors and Pistons. The 2017-18 Coach of the Year is currently a member of the Pistons' management.
The second thing for the Lakers is to actively renew the contract of Lao Zhan, and when Bronny James is signed, even if this matter has been confirmed, only the amount of the contract remains.
Four-time NBA champion James intends to drop his player option worth about $51.4 million next season, and James is expected to sign a brand new contract with the Lakers, according to Shams of The Athletic. According to previous reports, the Lakers are willing to offer James whatever contract he wants.
At this stage, the Lakers can offer James a three-year contract extension with a maximum salary of 162 million. James played in 71 regular season games for the Lakers last season, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 35.3 minutes per game, shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from three-point range and 75.0% from the free throw line.
Pursue the Clay triumvirate and take revenge on the whole league
So why did Lao Zhantou delay renewing his contract with the Lakers? They were waiting for someone, most likely Klay Thompson, who had a falling out with the Warriors.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, multiple sources have revealed that the Warriors are preparing for the loss of Klay Thompson, with the two sides believing the 13-year partnership has come to an end. Follow-up reports say the Lakers, Mavericks and Clippers are all interested in Klay. It was also previously reported that the Nuggets would see Klay as a possible replacement if they lost Pope.
Last season, Klay played in 77 regular season games for the Warriors, averaging 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. However, in the play-off game against the Kings, Klay scored 0-of-10 shooting. There's a good chance that Klay has played his final game with the Warriors.
By jumping out of his contract this way, James was able to open up a $12.9 million mid-class exception space for the Lakers to sign an "influential player." But there are prerequisites for Lao Zhan's salary cut, and the player who comes must be able to improve the team substantially, and he must be a star or have star potential.
League sources have revealed that James wants the Lakers to make a more competitive offer than the Mavericks to sign Klay. And Klay is also interested in playing with the old Zhan, as early as 2019, when it was reported that Klay would prefer to join the Lakers if the Warriors do not offer the full salary cap. Klay's father is a former Lakers player and former Lakers announcer, and his father has always wanted him to play for the Lakers.
If the Lakers can recruit Klay, form a new version of the Big Three, and take revenge on the whole league!