RealGM

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to part ways with Darvin Ham in the near future, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Ham was hired by the Lakers in 2022 to replace Frank Vogel.

"My sense is nothing has changed on that front in terms of the Lakers' plans. As we reported, the Lakers wanted to do their due diligence over the 24 to 72 hours or so after being eliminated. And really just think it over, make sure they were not making a rash decision.

"I think they caught a lot of flak for how the Frank Vogel situation happened where he was essentially fired at the buzzer and had to do a press conference with us and he was asked about it. It was just a really awkward situation. The Lakers didn't formally announce it until the next morning and then tried to say that was how it all played out."

The Lakers conducted their exit interviews immediately after their loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday, but Rob Pelinka has yet to address the media.

"The latest I've heard is the plan is still to move on from Darvin at some point, likely by the end of the week. Potentially as early as [Thursday]. Then, the head coaching search will start. I've already started to hear some names from different people... From what I've heard over the last couple of days, the plan is still to move on from Darvin.

Via Jovan Buha/The Athletic

Ty Lue gonna leave the Clippers and walk over to join the Lakers.

Mark Jackson incoming

Doc Rivers on his way in once he gets eliminated and fired from the Bucks.

Wtf kind of atrocious handling of things is this? And wasn't the previous coach unceremoniously dismissed as well? Unprofessional.

It's the classic scenario of changing the coach because the roster is practically set in stone. They're not as bad as the Suns, but this roster is pretty much set unless another team gifts them some talent. No picks, no tradeable pieces that aren't part of their core. So, it feels like a Hail Mary to fire Ham and hope another coach can get more out of this roster.

I'd put money on no one - not even a prime Phil Jackson - getting more out of this roster. AD is going to be a year older and he's always been injury-prone. Lebron is overdue for a drastic decline. The surrounding roster is reliant on those two. This is a job for someone willing to be a fall man for a quick payday.

DaFan334 wrote:Doc Rivers on his way in once he gets eliminated and fired from the Bucks.

Eh. I think Rivers will be there at least another season. He was brought in mid way. Stars are also injured.

Tottery wrote:

DaFan334 wrote:Doc Rivers on his way in once he gets eliminated and fired from the Bucks.

Eh. I think Rivers will be there at least another season. He was brought in mid way. Stars are also injured.

The team was worse under him though.. that said I agree

haste10176 wrote:

Tottery wrote:

DaFan334 wrote:Doc Rivers on his way in once he gets eliminated and fired from the Bucks.

Eh. I think Rivers will be there at least another season. He was brought in mid way. Stars are also injured.

The team was worse under him though.. that said I agree

They had a light schedule to start the season. That said, the coach was not and is still not the problem. No one paying any attention should have expected this to work. The Bucks are the Suns of the East.

I never bothered to ask, but how do contracts work with coaches. Is it fully guaranteed, partially?

dk1115 wrote:I never bothered to ask, but how do contracts work with coaches. Is it fully guaranteed, partially?

It seems like much of the time they're fully guaranteed. It doesn't matter that much since they generally don't make that much compared to players, and it's not part of the salary cap so it can cost more to keep a bad coach than to pay him to go away (as long as you're not paying for like 3 coaches simultaneously LOL.)

Pickled Prunes wrote:

haste10176 wrote:

Tottery wrote:
Eh. I think Rivers will be there at least another season. He was brought in mid way. Stars are also injured.

The team was worse under him though.. that said I agree

They had a light schedule to start the season. That said, the coach was not and is still not the problem. No one paying any attention should have expected this to work. The Bucks are the Suns of the East.

Their GM needs to be replaced for stripping away their defensive identity.

I see Giannis forcing his way out well before they ever recover. They have no assets unless they want to trade Middleton.

How the hell does Rob Pelinka not get the axe? This guy has hired several coaches and won one bubble ring with an asterik while missing the playoffs twice, eliminated in the first round twice and once in the conference finals, where is the accountability?

purpleswordfish wrote:It's the classic scenario of changing the coach because the roster is practically set in stone. They're not as bad as the Suns, but this roster is pretty much set unless another team gifts them some talent. No picks, no tradeable pieces that aren't part of their core. So, it feels like a Hail Mary to fire Ham and hope another coach can get more out of this roster.

I'd put money on no one - not even a prime Phil Jackson - getting more out of this roster. AD is going to be a year older and he's always been injury-prone. Lebron is overdue for a drastic decline. The surrounding roster is reliant on those two. This is a job for someone willing to be a fall man for a quick payday.

They will have 3 tradable first round picks this summer. Also, any experienced coach would have gotten more out of this roster. Which is the route they should’ve went instead of hiring Ham who had no head coaching experience. They were up double digits 4 out of 5 games against the defending champions while maintaining a lead the majority of each of the games. Denver had no answer for the Lebron/AD pick and roll or Denver’s pick and roll offense which the lakers used when they put Lebron in the dunkers spot in game 4. Also, he fumbled around 10 regular season games when he moved Reaves and Russell in and out of the starting lineup. So I’d definitely take that bet that a better coach gets more out of this roster.

With that said, the Lakers don’t seem to be too interested in actually winning a championship or they have completely miscalculated how long Lebron would be this good and decided against making moves to improve the roster in an effort to have assets after he retires.

Dude the NBA has become completely unwatchable at this point. What a joke.

Rek wrote:

Pickled Prunes wrote:

haste10176 wrote:

The team was worse under him though.. that said I agree

They had a light schedule to start the season. That said, the coach was not and is still not the problem. No one paying any attention should have expected this to work. The Bucks are the Suns of the East.

Their GM needs to be replaced for stripping away their defensive identity.

I see Giannis forcing his way out well before they ever recover. They have no assets unless they want to trade Middleton.

All they can hope is that MIA (or anyone else) still think Lillard is worth his contract.

YourGM99 wrote:
They will have 3 tradable first round picks this summer. Also, any experienced coach would have gotten more out of this roster. Which is the route they should’ve went instead of hiring Ham who had no head coaching experience. They were up double digits 4 out of 5 games against the defending champions while maintaining a lead the majority of each of the games. Denver had no answer for the Lebron/AD pick and roll or Denver’s pick and roll offense which the lakers used when they put Lebron in the dunkers spot in game 4. Also, he fumbled around 10 regular season games when he moved Reaves and Russell in and out of the starting lineup. So I’d definitely take that bet that a better coach gets more out of this roster.

With that said, the Lakers don’t seem to be too interested in actually winning a championship or they have completely miscalculated how long Lebron would be this good and decided against making moves to improve the roster in an effort to have assets after he retires.

If Ham doesn't adjust the lineup when Dlo is slumping then he would get called out for it and be called a bad coach. If he does make changes, he's called out for it too. If the Lakers don't win a championship then Ham is bad coach. People were fine with Ham when they Lakers were making a fun in last year's playoffs, then back to he's terrible after the Denver series. All the games against Denver this year were winnable. In the end, it's up to the players to make plays at the end of the game. I'm fine with Ham moving on and think they can improve, but Denver is just better at this point.

The Lakers will only be looking for a new coach this summer because they moved on from Vogel too quickly

Why wait? Do it now.

Of course the Lakers have bigger (roster) problems.

GunnerWRX wrote:Mark Jackson incoming

heezyo2o wrote:

YourGM99 wrote:
They will have 3 tradable first round picks this summer. Also, any experienced coach would have gotten more out of this roster. Which is the route they should’ve went instead of hiring Ham who had no head coaching experience. They were up double digits 4 out of 5 games against the defending champions while maintaining a lead the majority of each of the games. Denver had no answer for the Lebron/AD pick and roll or Denver’s pick and roll offense which the lakers used when they put Lebron in the dunkers spot in game 4. Also, he fumbled around 10 regular season games when he moved Reaves and Russell in and out of the starting lineup. So I’d definitely take that bet that a better coach gets more out of this roster.

With that said, the Lakers don’t seem to be too interested in actually winning a championship or they have completely miscalculated how long Lebron would be this good and decided against making moves to improve the roster in an effort to have assets after he retires.

If Ham doesn't adjust the lineup when Dlo is slumping then he would get called out for it and be called a bad coach. If he does make changes, he's called out for it too. If the Lakers don't win a championship then Ham is bad coach. People were fine with Ham when they Lakers were making a fun in last year's playoffs, then back to he's terrible after the Denver series. All the games against Denver this year were winnable. In the end, it's up to the players to make plays at the end of the game. I'm fine with Ham moving on and think they can improve, but Denver is just better at this point.

The Lakers will only be looking for a new coach this summer because they moved on from Vogel too quickly

Was D-Lo actually slumping or was it Ham trying to see Reaves in the starting lineup with D-Lo? His reasoning for the lineup changes were not that bad but it was questionable considering you ended with the same lineup you had the previous year in the playoffs. Anyone who actually watched the games last year or this year would probably agree that the lakers were winning in spite of the Coach. I always say the best team always wins a best of 7 so yes Denver is better but I do question if they are better only because of coaching. Again, double digit leads in 4 of the 5 games. The Lakers pick and roll offense gave Denver trouble all series and I would argue that the lakers have more talent on their bench compared to Denver.

Also, I agree they gave up on Vogel too early.