The Lakers had a horrible season this year and did not make the playoffs even with Lebron James in the team.
So there was no real surprise when the Lakers decided to give head coach Luke Walton his walking papers.
Walton was in charge of the Lakers for the last 3 seasons and was quickly picked up by the Sacramento Kings.
The Lakers received tremendous flak for their performance this season and it resulted in Lakers President Magic Johnson stepping down earlier this month.
Johnson and Walton never had a great relationship and some believe that with Johnson gone, it could give Walton a chance to continue. However, the Lakers were looking at major change and believe that it was time for a new head coach to takeover.
Tyronn Lue, who coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to their only NBA title in 2016, is set to have a meeting later this week with Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka to fill up the team’s recently vacated head coaching position.
This news is per Brad Turner of L.A. Times who posted this in his tweet on April 16.
Tyronn Lue is meeting with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka Friday in Los Angeles about the team’s head coaching job that became available when Luke Walton was let go, per sources.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) April 16, 2019
The Lakers are keeping their options open and looking at a few candidates for the head coach role. Another candidate in the running is Monty Williams, who is a current Philadelphia 76ers assistant. He coached the New Orleans Pelicans from 2010-2015 and served as Anthony Davis first head coach in the NBA. The Lakers still have hopes of getting Davis on board to complement James as the team seeks a reversal of its fortunes having not made the playoffs for the last six seasons.
ESPN
Monty Williams is currently very busy as the Philadelphia 76ers are still in the playoffs battling it out with the Brooklyn Nets with the series ties 1-1. Williams and Pelinka will meet before Game 3 and see how things work out.
Lue who had a coaching record of 211-183 with the Cavaliers is known for his close relationship with James. He took over from David Blatt during the middle of the 2015 season and proceeded right away to lead the team to the title in 2016.
Lue was also head coach when the Cavaliers made it to the 2017 and 2018 NBA finals which they lost to the Golden State Warriors. He was fired at the beginning of this year after the Cavaliers posted a 0-6 opening in their regular season.
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