Lakers Rumored To Be Going After Prominent College Coach
The Los Angeles Lakers off-season just got even more interesting.
News broke early Thursday morning when ESPN NBA Senior Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Los Angeles Lakers will offer a "massive contract" to UConn head coach and back-to-back national champion Dan Hurley.
This also comes on the heels of other talks saying that JJ Redick will be the next Laker head coach.
Since the Hurley news, there is speculation that Redick is out of the race. However, Redick does a podcast called Mind The Game with LeBron James so there is still the chance of Redick being involved in the Lakers organization as an assistant coach.
Redick could also choose to stay at ESPN where he is in the middle of a three-year contract that has him on shows and also doing commentary for ESPN on NBA broadcasts.
The news of Hurley getting offered has shocked many basketball fans across social media as most would've never thought Hurley would even think about leaving the Huskies after winning the NCAA Tournament two years in a row.
According to an ESPN article by Pete Thamel, Hurley made his intentions clear that he is not leaving Connecticut and wants to build a dynasty by winning the tournament for the third year in a row.
The last time a three-peat was done was by the great coach John Wooden at UCLA when he led the Bruins to win seven national championships in a row from 1967 to 1973.
The question however remains: What if the offer the Lakers could give to Hurley is too good to pass on?
Consequences, Even If Not Intended
If it is and Hurley leaves, then it would further polarize the transfer portal which could further polarize NIL.
The transfer portal cycle ended back on May 1 and several players were acquired by UConn in the portal. It includes Michigan transfer Tarris Reed and St. Mary's Aidan Maheny.
Those players would ask to re-enter the portal due to a coaching change and they would be granted a 30-day window due to it happening outside the cycle.
But where could they go? They could go to other schools but most schools, especially power schools, have already completed their rosters.
Players of Reed's and Maheny's caliber might not want to go to a mid-major due to the possibility of lesser NIL money.
Power schools would most likely have to cut players if they wanted to grab them but then the cut players would be looking for homes too.
It would just be chaos in an already ever-changing industry known as college sports.
The NBA on the other hand wouldn't be as negatively affected as the NCAA.
The potential hiring of Hurley could cause a wave of NBA teams wanting to look towards the college ranks more often than former NBA players, well-established NBA assistant coaches, and former head coaches.
At this point, it remains to be seen if Hurley accepts the offer.
But if he does, it will change basketball forever.
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