Shams: JJ Redick is front-runner for Lakers’ coaching job after first interview

“I’m told last week the Lakers met with JJ Redick in Chicago at the Draft Combine. They met for an extended period of time to really get to know him and spend time with him and he was the first candidate to really do a face-to-face meeting and then they brought in James Borrego in L.A. on Monday. Sam Cassell, David Adelman, Micah Nori, Chris Quinn is gonna get an interview as well in L.A. They’re finishing up their first round of interviews this week. Next week, I believe they’re gonna start their second phase in this process, getting more conversations with candidates, getting more basketball-centric conversations in, I think a lot of it now was surface level.

“But going into this process and right now, my sense is that JJ Redick, he is the guy around the league that everyone believes is the frontrunner for this job. He’s in position, I think there’s infatuation with JJ Redick right now just in terms of his ability for right now, but also being a coach the Lakers can have for years and years to come. That’s someone who’s young enough in the industry, young enough in the space where you feel like you have a four, five, maybe six-year runway with a guy like JJ Redick as your head coach where now you have him command the respect of a LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”