NBA Rumors: Lakers Waiting On Doc Rivers


The Los Angeles Lakers head coaching search has been slow and deliberate, but NBA Insider Marc Stein says there's a good reason for that. A couple of big-name targets haven't entered the market yet. 

“Sources maintain that the Lakers’ search is moving deliberately at least in part," writes Stein, "because L.A. wants to see if Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers or Utah’s Quin Snyder makes it to the open market this offseason.”

While Snyder's Jazz bit the dust in the first round, losing to the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games, Doc's Sixers are still alive in their second-round series with the Miami Heat, down 2-1 after the return of the masked crusader, Joel Embiid, in Game 3.

Rivers has been much-maligned in recent years for his propensity for blowing playoff series leads, and not being able to carry star-laden teams over the hump (at least since 2008, a long 14 years ago, when he won a title with the Boston Celtics). 

He's also taken plenty of blame for his calling out of Ben Simmons after last year's playoff debacle as being the catalyst for Simmons demanding a trade and refusing to play all season. 

But the Lakers are definitely interested, according to Stein, and they're likely hoping that another early Rivers playoff exit this season—should they go down without much of a fight to the Heat this round—could end his tenure in Philly. 

As for Snyder, perhaps an exasperation with the never-ending feud between his two stars in Utah could lead to his leaving town. Stein reported last week that the Lakers have "serious" interest in him as well. 

LA has already interviewed Mark Jackson, Terry Stotts, Darvin Ham and Adrian Griffin for the opening created when they fired Frank Vogel last month. 

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