The talks about the changes within the Lakers team started as soon as they were eliminated from postseason. While potential roster changes are discussed less, there appears to be a consensus that the head coach Frank Vogel will bet let go by the purple and gold.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst is of the same opinion. “I think that’s going to happen,” he said on The Rich Eisen Show. “I don’t think Frank put his best foot forward this year, but I don’t thing that there’s a coach that’s going to be able to change the limitations that Westbrook has at this point in his career playing alongside [LeBron James and Anthony Davis].”
When it comes to potential candidates that could replace Vogel in Los Angeles, Windhorst says that the team’s unwillingness to pay higher salary could keep high profile coaches away.
“I’ll tell you one thing. I wonder how much [the Lakers] are going to pay. Because the reason that they have Frank Vogel, who won them a championship, again he’ll walk away and hold the ring, but the reason that they have Frank Vogel and not Tyronn Lue is because they didn’t want to meet the price.
“So if they’re going to go out and try to hire the best coach on the market whoever that may be, and there’s some coaches out there who may be pretty high profile who may be out of their jobs, I mean, are they going to pay.
“When they went to extend Frank Vogel, they gave him one year. Are they going to hire a coach that they believe it can make a different when I’m not sure the coach can make a different in the short term.
“That’s the first question I had is are they going to make sure that every candidate is interested in them because last time around Monty Williams and Ty Lue said ‘No’ for a reason.”
