The Los Angeles Lakers hiring of former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach and former Lakers champion Ty Lue seems nothing more than a mere formality.
Nothing in the NBA is done until the ink is dry and nothing is quite finished. Considering how long both Lue and the Lakers have looked to be the right pair for each other, it shouldn’t be a shock that there’s already an idea of who Lue’s top assistant might be.
According to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, former Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel is a top candidate to be Lue’s lead assistant next season.
Lue, 42, has not accepted the position yet as both sides continue to focus on contractual parameters, sources said.
If Lue takes the job, Frank Vogel — former coach of the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic — could join his staff as a lead assistant, sources said.
Lue was spotted in Las Vegas celebrating his birthday over the weekend with a Los Angeles Lakers-themed birthday cake. It’s a no-brainer at this point that the Lakers will eventually hire him, given his proven track record of success coaching LeBron James.
Vogel’s Indiana teams in particular had a reputation for being strong defensive teams, anchored by Roy Hibbert, Paul George and George Hill. They played a conservative pick and roll defense, meaning the bigs usually dropped back, but were very tough on the ball.
Lue potentially bringing on Vogel, an experienced head coach as an assistant, is quite the departure from Luke Walton who had a relatively inexperienced NBA staff by league-wide standards.
