LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Lakers received permission to interview Miami assistant coach Juwan Howard and plan to interview Howard, Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams this week, according to people familiar with their plan but not authorized to speak publicly.
Howard was part of the Fab Five at Michigan where he and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka were college teammates. He is also reportedly planning to interview with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Williams is an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, who are playing the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs. Pelinka plans to travel to meet with Williams this week. The series has a two-day break between Games 2 and 3 that is likely when that meeting will occur, but travel plans are still in flux.
Lue, who was fired by the Cavaliers in October, has long been considered the front-runner for the job if the Lakers fired Luke Walton. Lue coached LeBron James in Cleveland and became the head coach in January 2016, a few months before the Cavaliers won Cleveland's first pro sports championship in half a century.
