Rob Pelinka dodges question on failure to secure Dan Hurley before JJ Redick's hiring: "He was in our plan A pool"

LA Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka didn't want to answer the question addressed to him regarding the failure to sign Dan Hurley. The Lakers have officially named former NBA player JJ Redick as their 29th head coach. This came after the organization wasn't able to secure Hurley in the position.

He signed a much cheaper deal than what was offered to Hurley. It was reported that both parties were close to securing a deal but that didn't come to fruition as the coach backed out.

This caused the Lakers to land on Redick as their replacement for Darvin Ham. During the head coach's introductory press, Pelinka was asked about how they weren't able to secure Hurley for the position. The GM didn't want to directly talk about it since it was a press conference for their new coach. Pelinka addressed reporters including Sportskeeda's Mark Medina, and said:

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"Happy to talk more about the entire process at another time, today's sort of, JJ's. I will say this. From the start, he was in our plan A pool of coaches that were were really interested in exploring."

Pelinka also mentioned that he and Redick were in constant communication to keep each other updated, even during the NBA Finals. The general manager mentioned that the former player was one of their top prospects for the position following the firing of Ham.

Redick is a first-time head coach who has no prior coaching experience at the NBA level.

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Rob Pelinka has an interesting list of key players for next season

The Lakers have one goal for the 2024-25 NBA season, compete for a championship. While the key players will always be the stars, role players also play a significant role in their quest. Rob Pelinka shared an interesting take on which players he considers as keys for them to contend.

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Pelinka named Austin Reaves, Max Christie, Rui Hachimura and Jalen Hood-Schifino as key players in the Lakers' young core.

Reaves has developed into a solid third option since he signed a four-year, $53.8 million deal with the Lakers. The shooting guard averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists the past season. Hachimura, on the other hand, has shown how effective he can be on the floor. The Japanese star played 68 games and averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

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