Lakers Head Coach Rumors: LA to Focus on Ty Lue After Suns Hire Monty Williams

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The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to hire Tyronn Lue as the next head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, though a formal offer has yet to be made.

That comes in the wake of Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reporting that the Phoenix Suns are hiring Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams as their next head coach.

Lue, 42, is a former player who served as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach for parts of four seasons. He helped lead the Cavaliers to an NBA title in the 2015-16 campaign. He was fired just six games into this season as the Cavaliers moved into a rebuilding mode after the departure of LeBron James last summer.

That connection with James is likely one of the factors in the Lakers’ interest in Lue, though it won’t help the public perception that James is the one calling the shots behind the scenes. That may be an unfair assumption, but it’s one that definitely exists, at least in some corners.

If Lue is indeed named the head coach, he’ll have a huge task ahead of him. The Lakers were a major disappointment in James’ first season, limping to a 37-45 record. While the team dealt with its fair share of injuries, a James-led team missing the postseason was a shock.

Lue’s task will be getting the Lakers back to the postseason for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign. He’ll potentially be doing so with a new-look team, as the Lakers are expected to make a major push for big free agents this summer.

If they fail in that effort and can’t add stars via trades, Lue will then need to get the most out of the team’s young core opposite James, which struggled at times last season. In either case, Lue will have a reclamation project on his hands.