There is some uncertainty over whether the Los Angeles Lakers had always targeted Dan Hurley to be their head coach, or if it was a new development after his extension talks with UConn stalled and how serious he ever was about leaving for the NBA.
Before the start of the Hurley talks, the Lakers were reportedly close to settling on JJ Redick for the job.
“It had been apparent that JJ Redick was separating himself as as one of the front runners, but obviously he is part of the NBA Finals coverage right now, and the feeling was that at some point after The Finals, these sides would reconvene and actually do something to bring him out to L.A. and do a more formal meeting,” said Shams Charania on the Pat McAfee Show.
“So last week, really, around Wednesday of last week, the Lakers turned their attention to Dan Hurley and he has he was not mentioned from the start of this search as far as going after.”
The Hurley extension talks were reportedly a factor in the timing of the Lakers’ pursuit.
“He was in the midst of contract extension negotiations after Memorial Day,” said Charania. “They’ve been going back and forth, and the Lakers, you know for some reason, somehow felt like there was an opening with Dan Hurley. And around the league what is now being termed to me is like really ‘a Hail Mary offer’ to Dan Hurley. They come in six years, $70 million, so he was around $5 million or $6 million at UConn, they’re bumping that up two times to around $12 million per year.
“But Dan Hurley clearly, clearly did not want to really leave UConn and he chose to stay at the end of the day. And he’s taking $20 million less to stay at UConn to continue to build what he’s building.”
Charania added he believes Hurley benefits with this story as a public demonstration of his commitment to UConn in the near-term and he will have future opportunities for the NBA.
“What better way to tell recruits than to say I turned down the Lakers job for $70 million, so Dan Hurley obviously a major, major winner through all this, and deservingly so. I think you guys had me on around the final four around the tournament and we talked about Dan Hurley and how special he is as a coach.
“And I think, listen, at the end there’s questions around the league as to whether that was a genuine interest for Dan Hurley was this a genuine part of the process, or was this simply a leverage move for Dan Hurley, but clearly he gets his money. He gets his bag.”
