The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make a decision on head coach Byron Scott regarding his future as their head coach.
General manager Mitch Kupchak stated that the front office may take a week or so to let the emotions of the regular season die down before deciding Scott’s fate. Well, it has been a week since the thrilling regular season finale that saw Kobe Bryant exit with another 60-point performance, and so far, everything is silent on the coaching front.
If the team elects to move in another direction and relieve Scott of his coaching duties, they will have one less candidate to choose from as his replacement.
According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is finalizing a contract to become the new head coach and president of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Tom Thibodeau is finalizing a five-year deal to become president and coach of the Timberwolves, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 20, 2016
This pairing has been in the works for at least the past few weeks, with reports that both sides were on the same page, and now it looks like it will become official in the immediate future.
Had the Lakers decided to dismiss Scott as their coach, landing Thibodeau would have been a nearly impossible task with what Minnesota was offering. There was simply no scenario where Thibodeau would get that much power in Los Angeles; not with Kupchak and the Buss family running things.
Additionally, the Timberwolves have arguably the most promising young core group in the NBA, centered around Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
This is not to say that the Lakers do not have an exciting young core of their own, but Minnesota took steps forward this year, while Los Angeles continued their plummet of the last few years, winning just 17 games.
While it would have been an outstanding move had the Lakers been able to get Thibodeau, it would have relied on no other team offering full personnel control, which is what a lot of high-profile coaches are looking for nowadays.
There are still promising candidates still out there, if the Lakers decide they want a different head coach for next season. As of right now, though, that is still up in the air, while fans wait anxiously for that decision to come.
