Shams Charania defends Lakers' quest for UConn HC by calling it "Hail Mary" offer to fill the position: "Dan Hurley was not the #1 candidate to go"
The very public rejection by UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley would have stung for the Lakers who went after the two-time national championship-winning coach aggressively and missed. It has been five weeks since the franchise fired coach Darvin Ham, and their coaching search still appears to be unresolved.
There have been several names linked to the lucrative job, with retired NBA star J.J Redick being the most intriguing one over the past few weeks. The coaching search seemed to have ground to a halt with the Hurley news—but apparently, he was not the first-choice candidate for the franchise after all.
During an appearance on "FanDuel TV," NBA insider Shams Charania revealed that Hurley was not the first-choice coach for the vacant position and that the Lakers only courted him with a "Hail Mary" offer.
"Last week on Wednesday turned their (Lakers) attention to Dan Hurley and he was not the number one candidate, the number one guy to go pursue from the start, from the beginning. But, they felt like there was an opening there for him. He was in contract negotiations with UConn," Charania said.
"He was discussing a deal to go back and they felt like there was an opening and they threw what people in the league think was a Hail Mary offer: six years, $70 million. At the end of the day, Dan Hurley chose not to leave, he chose to stay for $20 million less at UConn. They did go up significantly from his current deal right now, but it is $20 million less," Charania added.
According to ESPN analyst Adrian Wojnarowski, New Orleans associate head coach James Borrego is the only other candidate, apart from Dan Hurley, to have visited with the Lakers although he is also in the running to be the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Did Dan Hurley use the Lakers as a leverage?
UConn coach Dan Hurley was in the process of negotiating a new deal with the Huskies to better the six-year contract worth $32.1 million that he signed last season after winning his first national championship.
Shams Charania appearing on "FanDuel TV" speculated that Dan Hurley was never serious about leaving UConn and that he used the Lakers' interest as leverage to get a better deal.
"You think about the Lakers job and what it's known for and the big time-ness of it, and he (Hurley) still decided to stay at UConn, go for a chance at a three-peat. It does beg the question around the league, was there genuine interest or was this a genuine process with this or was this simply just about leverage?" Charania said.
Whether or not Dan Hurley was serious about the Lakers job, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont already told reporters that he would ensure that the UConn coach would be the highest paid collegiate head coach in the country.