JJ Redick Becomes the Lakers’ Next Head Coach

The Lakers finally believe they have found their next coach. Today, the Lakers officially signed JJ Redick to a four-year deal to become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Redick was offered the job this morning by general manager Rob Pelinka. Although the official monetary numbers haven’t been released yet from the Lakers, it is estimated that he will be getting paid around eight million annually to coach the team. 

Thus far this offseason, the Lakers have looked at several candidates for the head coaching job after firing Darvin Ham. This search included Dan Hurley, who turned down a massive offer from the Lakers for six years, worth up to $70 million. It makes sense that JJ Redick, who has no prior professional coaching experience, got a significantly worse deal compared to Hurley coming off back-to-back National Championships with the UConn Huskies. However, the Dan Hurley news did make it very clear that JJ Redick was not the Lakers' first option and that they do not view Redick as valuably compared to an established basketball coach like Dan Hurley.

However, JJ Redick does reportedly have a very good relationship with LeBron James, as the duo have done multiple podcasts together in the past. Additionally, the Lakers believe that Redick’s high basketball IQ and ability to bond with the Lakers players will make him effective at building this team up for future success. However, this new signing does create two questions that will need to be answered moving forward for the Lakers organization. Firstly, will JJ Redick’s pedigree as a former player and broadcaster be enough to help him become a successful coach in the NBA? Secondly, will the Lakers be patient enough to stick by Redick if things don’t go great in the first two years under his tenure, or will the team continue their coaching carousel as they have over the past decade?