Byron Scott [Photo by Harry How/Getty Images] Byron Scott has now been officially fired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The Lakers are in the upcoming draft lottery, and how high they are drawn could influence their chances of convincing the Bulls to trade Butler.
After the firing, Scott has the worst career winning percentage of any coach in the league with.412.
Former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is now an analyst on ESPN, also seems to be drawing attention from the Lakers. Offering a strong supporting cast is one of the most important things a team can do to land a primary celebrity, yet the Lakers have seemed nearly totally uninterested in enhancing themselves in this manner.
After the Year of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers’ brass made a decision to part ways with their former head coach Byron Scott on Monday, albeit two weeks too late to land either Tom Thibodeau or Scott Brooks, now leading the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Washington Wizards respectively.
The photo above pretty much describes Los Angeles Laker futility under the watch of Jim Buss.Er, I mean Bust.
Admittedly, coaches are usually held more accountable for the poor play of their team as a whole than individual players are, and the team’s management may not have felt they had much choice but to let him go. Warriors assistant head coach Luke Walton has been said to be an ideal candidate for the “Lakers job”, which has shown impressive performance at warriors and has been pivotal in helping the warriors make history this season. It also doesn’t hurt being in a major market with an abundance of cap space to spend on major free agents this summer. The Lakers would have them as targets should Durant pass. While nearly everyone figured that the team would force Bryant to take a pay cut so that he could remain with the organization while it began preparing for the next generation, the Lakers instead handed him a contract that kept him as the highest-paid player in the league. But that time may be coming to an end. “But I understand the business of basketball, and it’s all about wins and losses”.
The reality for Lakers players who aren’t all-time greats like Kobe has been a good deal more bleak.
I bet Jim Buss kicks himself in the wee hours of the morning.”Why did I ever say, I’m letting Jeannie take over if we don’t get to the second round”.
The Lakers plan to go through multiple stages of interviewing and reevaluating candidates before narrowing their list and hiring their next coach.
They need a coach, sure.
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And that’s where the team’s coaching move comes into play, because it’s the only immediate, concrete way the Lakers can demonstrate their direction to free agents. “He’s not necessarily top of the line and he does have limited coaching experience, but by the same token a guy like Phil Jackson would not endorse him as basketball savvy if he was not-he just wouldn’t”.
