Darvin

Ham

After two seasons as the Lakers’ head coach, Ham has been relieved of his duties. The Lakers lost to Denver in the first round after being eliminated by them in the Western Conference Finals the year before, though they had to play in the Play-In Tournament both years. Early candidates for the position according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania are Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson and JJ Redick, though Tyronn Lue will be considered if he becomes available.

This isn’t an earth-shattering move, but the Lakers didn’t have to give up much to move up seven spots. They’ll now select at 17 and 40 in the draft, while the Pacers have picks 7, 26, 47 and 55, as well as a little extra cash.

In the first half of games this season, AD is averaging 14.0 points on 10.8 shot attempts. In the second half, that falls to 8.0 points on 6.3 shot attempts. “We have a playbook, a menu, and a bunch of sets where AD can be featured,” Ham said. “You just have be organized, slow down, get what you want.” LeBron James said the Lakers’ “focal point is and always should be to make sure [Davis] touches the ball throughout the course of possessions, quarters, halves,” and Russell Westbrook said he’s also aware of the need to involve his star big man more frequently. As this season has proven, though, whether the Lakers can execute their gameplan is another question.

The Blazers put lumbering center Jusuf Nurkic on Westbrook, and it worked like a charm. Nurkic sagged off and baited Westbrook into an ill-considered “two-for-one” mid-range jumper, even though L.A. was leading by a point with 30 seconds remaining. LeBron James was visibly frustrated with Westbrook’s decision-making, coach Darvin Ham said “I just wished he had attacked the rim,” and the Lakers now have an 0-3 record.

“I’m told to expect Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to wait until post-Thanksgiving, 20 games into the season,” Wojnarowski said. “And see what teams may start pivoting who don’t start off well, who decide that they may start to unload players and perhaps get involved in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.” This makes a lot of sense, as there are likely to be a lot more sellers than buyers compared to previous years. It remains to be seen if the Lakers will revisit the idea of moving Russell Westbrook, though.

Per Haynes’ report, “The Lakers’ ownership group, led by Jeanie Buss, believes deeply in management and the coach being in alignment on one vision. Pelinka’s contract is now set to expire at the same time as first-year head coach Darvin Ham, who signed a four-year deal.” This is great news for the Lakers’ organizational continuity, and should help guide them through a potentially rocky start to the 2022-23 season, with Russell Westbrook’s role and status looming over the team.

The Magic still have the No. 1 pick and the 32nd pick in this draft. As for the Lakers, they were without a pick before this trade but were still working out a ton of prospects in anticipation of securing one.

This was one of the many interesting tidbits from Ham’s press conference, in that Anthony Davis has stated in the past that he prefers to be used as a power forward, rather than a center. There has been some give in that regard, however, as 76% of Davis’ playing time this season came at the center position. And that number could increase next season, based upon the way in which Ham wants the Lakers to play. “I think he’s the key,” Ham said of Davis. “We’ve all seen what can happen when he’s healthy and playing at a high level and in rhythm. We saw it in the bubble. His skill set, his size, his versatility, his defensive acumen, his relentlessness, his ability to give multiple efforts defensively is key. It’s going to be the foundation of the type of standard we set in the ‘Darvin Ham era.’ It’s going to be built on that defense and he’s going to be the main piece, the centerpiece of it.” Davis can be an elite fantasy option when healthy, but staying on the court has been a bit problematic for him throughout the course of his career.

Ham, Terry Stotts and Kenny Atkinson were among the three finalists for the job, but Ham got the gig and will be on a four-year deal, per Woj. The Lakers had a formal interview with him on Thursday and offered him the job today, and he’ll have the tall task of taking on the Lakers as a first-time head coach. Ham was with the Lakers as an assistant for a couple years starting in 2011, then assisted the Hawks for five years, the Bucks for four, and now back to the Lakers as the main man in charge. It’s no secret that Ham has his work cut out for him, and one of the main priorities will be trying to incorporate Russell Westbrook more effectively, even if that means a role change of sorts. With LeBron James turning 38 at the end of this year, it’s looking like now or never territory for the LeBron-led Lakers to turn things around after a disastrous 2021-2022 campaign.

Golden State’s Kenny Atkinson, Milwaukee’s Darvin Ham and Stotts have already been named finalists for the coaching job, but Stotts was the first one to complete the in-person portion of the interview. Stotts is reportedly intrigued with potentially coaching Russell Westbrook and believes he can help him be more effective and comfortable with his role than he was last season, which is undoubtedly a main area of concern for the team. The other two should go through with their interviews soon as the Lakers try to find a perfect fit to follow up what ended up being a disastrous 2021-2022 campaign.