Report: Lakers ‘zeroing in’ on JJ Redick as next head coach

JJ Redick remains the frontrunner as the next Lakers head coach as the team is reportedly “zeroing in” on him.

The Lakers, perhaps to the surprise of few, look to be moving in on JJ Redick as the team’s next head coach, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The team has had little movement on the coaching front, which has seemed to long indicate that Redick was their man.

On Tuesday, Charania reported the team was “zeroing in” on Redick, the first and most notable report indicating him as the true frontrunner.

The Los Angeles Lakers are zeroing in on JJ Redick as the front-runner for the franchise’s next head coach, league and media industry sources told The Athletic.

No final decision has been made yet, and the Lakers still have steps remaining in their head-coaching search process, league sources said. But the indications are strong that Redick is their leading choice at this stage.

Informally, there had been plenty of reporting about Redick and the Lakers. While no one officially said he was the frontrunner, everyone would say he’s one of the favorites or that that momentum was leading his way.

Charania’s report offered the first concrete reporting of what most had come to accept. From the onset, it was pretty clear that Redick was the favorite. Nothing has changed during the process to sway them from that.

The only other seemingly notable candidate has been James Borrego, who had an in-person interview with the Lakers. It is notable that he is the only one reported to have had an in-person interview. The team did interview a number of other coaches but it’s long felt like this was Redick’s job to lose.

Now, this doesn’t change the issue that the Lakers will have to wait until after the Finals to hire him. For a number of reasons, the best-case scenario for the Lakers is a 4-0 sweep by the Mavericks over the Celtics.

But it certainly feels like the next head coach of the Lakers is going to be the podcaster turned coach, JJ Redick. Boy, what a ride this is going to be.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.