Ramona Shelburne: Negotiations really deteriorated w/ Ty Lue when the Lakers refused to offer more than a three year deal that was designed to line up with LeBron James’ contract. Lue felt insulted the Lakers only saw him as a coach for LeBron, sources close to the process told ESPN.
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Ramona Shelburne: One league source said it appeared that Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka never expected negotiations could fall apart as they did because Lue didn’t have other offers. Lue was seeking a 5-year deal, believing his championship experience commanded it.
Shams Charania: The Los Angeles Lakers are adding these former NBA coaches to their coaching search: Lionel Hollins, Frank Vogel and Mike Woodson, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
Tania Ganguli: Juwan Howard and Jason Kidd are still in the pool of candidates for the Lakers' coaching job. Can also confirm they are adding Lionel Hollins, Frank Vogel and Mike Woodson to their list of candidates, as first reported by @Shams Charania
Dave McMenamin: Ty Lue and his reps turned down the Lakers’ offer Tuesday, per league sources. LAL regrouped with an offer in the range of 3 years, $18 million today. Lue’s side pulled out of negotiations. Lue’s camp seeking 5 year deal with salary commensurate with championship resume
Chris Haynes: Yahoo Sources: Lakers offered Tyronn Lue a three-year deal. Lue requested a five-year pact, same length issued to Luke Walton. Under Lakers’ proposal, the contract of Lue and LeBron James would have expired at the same time.
The Lakers pushed for former NBA coaches Frank Vogel and Jason Kidd to be added to Lue’s coaching staff, sources said. Although Lue wasn’t fond of having his staff picked for him, he would have relented if his contract terms were met, sources said.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Lakers advisor Kurt Rambis is playing a major role in the franchise's coaching search, league sources tell ESPN. He's emerging as a powerful voice in basketball operations.
Richard Jefferson: I feel bad for my guys.... which one?!? All of them, T-LUE, Bron and Luke!! This is what Luke was working with, this is what T-LUE didn’t want to get involved with and this is what Bron is dealing with.
Tania Ganguli: The Lakers have decided to move on from Ty Lue as they search for their next head coach, having determined he isn't the right long-term fit for the organization, according to a team source.
Brad Turner: Ty Lue and his representatives have informed the Lakers that he is moving on from trying to be hired as the Lakers' new coach, sources. Lue and his reps thanked the Lakers.
Beyond an inability to agree on contractual terms, the Lakers had proposed several scenarios involving their preferred candidates for assistant coaches, including Jason Kidd, league sources said. The Cleveland Cavaliers still owe Lue $10-plus million on his contract payout, and accepting a less-than-market value deal from the Lakers could ultimately cost him money.
General manager Rob Pelinka and front office advisor Kurt Rambis had interviewed Kidd for the head coaching job, and became convinced that he should be a key member of a Lue coaching staff, league sources said. They believed Kidd could be impactful with point guard Lonzo Ball, and were impressed with the Milwaukee Bucks player development during his tenure there. It isn't believed that Lue had objections to Kidd joining his staff, but the two had not discussed the possibility directly, league sources said.
Marc Stein: Among the issues that have led to a breakdown in talks between the Lakers and Ty Lue: League sources say that the Lakers have been trying to impose their choices for assistant coaches on Lue. @espn first reported the impasse between the Lakers are Lue
Marc Stein: As @NYTSports reported late in the regular season, management's dismay with Luke Walton's staff was among the reasons Walton fell out of favor with the front office before the abrupt resignation of team president Magic Johnson on April 9
Tania Ganguli: The word last season was that if Walton had kept his job, he was going to have to shake up his staff. I wondered going into this if their views on the makeup of the staff would affect negotiations with Lue.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Negotiations between the Los Angeles Lakers and Ty Lue have reached an impasse without a deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach, league sources tell ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Discussions have included talks on contract and assistant coaching staff, sources said. Among Lakers hopes on a Lue staff: Jason Kidd. He made a strong impression with management in his head coaching interview and had a productive history w/ Bucks developing young talent.
Sam Amick: "My understanding is that the Lakers never, and the terminology that was given to me is curious and probably telling, they never officially offered Monty the job. It seems that, the way I translated that, was that they might have wanted him but then did want him … to the tune of whatever he got from Phoenix.”
Lue was not the unanimous favorite to replace Walton among the Lakers’ many decision-makers in the wake of Magic Johnson’s abrupt April 9 resignation. He was indeed favored over Monty Williams, but there were some nagging fears among a minority of the team’s power brokers — as mentioned here previously — that hiring LeBron’s former Cleveland Cavaliers coach would be giving James too much control in Lakerland.
Lue’s supporters within the organization ultimately deduced that there was only one way Lue could rise to the level of unanimous choice to succeed Walton — by waiting until Williams was no longer available. Hence the relatively slow pace, spanning a full month, of the Lakers’ search for Walton’s successor.
It must be noted that the Lakers hadn’t made the hiring of Lue official as of this newsletter’s publication Tuesday afternoon. Putting more distance between Williams’ hiring in Phoenix and a Lue announcement appears to matter greatly to them, which is strange when you consider that the Lakers have appeared utterly unconcerned for so long by the unflattering optics stemming from their refusal to modernize so many other elements of the operation.
The reports of Lue wanting to add his former colleague in Boston, Tom Thibodeau, to his coaching staff are also true. LeBron, through intermediaries, has let it be known that Thibodeau would be a huge asset to have on the bench. LeBron’s close associates were gauging Thibodeau’s interest in becoming a top assistant two weeks ago. It would be similar to the role Mike Brown and Ron Adams serve under Steve Kerr in Golden State. Thibodeau, however, is owed a lot of money from the Minnesota Timberwolves and the feeling is that he would prefer a head coaching job. Thibodeau has the resume and income to be patient. Plus, after dealing with an unstable management group in Minnesota, Thibodeau may be taking a wait-and-see approach with the “new-look” Lakers.
A person close to LeBron has denied that LeBron is pushing for any head coach or assistant coach which is in keeping with LeBron’s “I just work here” public posture. The same person was willing to acknowledge that LeBron has the “utmost respect” for Thibodeau.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Tyronn Lue are in the process of working on a contract agreement that would make Lue the franchise’s next head coach, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Lue, 42, has not accepted the position yet as both sides continue to focus on contractual parameters, sources said.
If Lue takes the job, Frank Vogel — former coach of the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic — could join his staff as a lead assistant, sources said. Kurt Rambis — a former Lakers player and coach whose wife, Linda, is a trusted confidant and adviser to team owner Jeanie Buss — has had a significant role in the hiring process, sources said.
The Los Angeles Lakers are proceeding toward an offer to Ty Lue in the coming days and have no plans to introduce new candidates into their head-coaching search, league sources told ESPN. The team has been on its own timetable throughout this process and has yet to offer the job to any candidate, league sources said.
The Lakers are poised to make an offer to Tyronn Lue to become their next head coach, and he will come with two endorsers who have 10 Lakers championships between them. Phil Jackson, who coached Lue, and Magic Johnson, who stepped down as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations last month, told Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss that they supported the hiring of Lue, according to a person familiar with their discussions.
Johnson and Buss had a dinner Thursday night during which they discussed Buss’ pending decision. Johnson expressed his support for Lue and impressed upon Buss how difficult a feat it is to make three consecutive NBA Finals appearances, the source said. Buss had been taking her time to be deliberate and not have the Lakers rush into any decision.
Lue and James remained close and are both expected to attend the boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs on Saturday in Las Vegas, where Lue has a home. There were some in the Lakers organization who worried about the perception that if they hired Lue, James had too much power within the organization. Ultimately, the Lakers have decided not to worry about such perceptions.
The last two people the Lakers interviewed for their head-coaching vacancy — Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams on Thursday and former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue on Wednesday — were impressed by how thorough the Lakers’ contingent was during their conversations with both men, according to people familiar with the talks.
Neither Williams nor Lue were offered the job and neither was given a timetable on when the Lakers will make their decision, said the people who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Miami assistant coach Juwan Howard also impressed the Lakers during his interview Tuesday at the practice facility in El Segundo, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
Bill Oram: The Lakers are sending a big contingent to Philadelphia today for Monty Williams' second interview, sources tell @sam_amick and me. Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss leading a group that also includes Joey Buss, Jesse Buss, Kurt and Linda Rambis, and COO Tim Harris.
The goal is seemingly to move Rambis to the bench as an associate head coach. But if that doesn’t work, he could become the assistant general manager.
The Suns appear determined to preempt a Lakers offer, which sources say was part of the timing in the dismissal of former coach Igor Kokoskov on Monday. The Lakers will have completed second interviews with Williams and Ty Lue before the end of Thursday night, and could be closer to reaching a decision on whom to offer the job.
