Lakers: Insider Finds the Nick Nurse-to-LA Rumors 'Hilarious' for One Key Reason
One of the most talked about Lakers head coaching rumors over the last few weeks has been the prospect of LA landing current Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. It's only natural since Nurse is a high profile coach and the Lakers, despite their putrid season, are still a high profile franchise. Throw in the fact that Nurse is a Klutch Sports client, and presto, the rumors ensue.
Earlier this month, one executive mentioned that the Lakers are likely to make a run at the championship coach.
Yahoo Sports Vincent Goodwill finds the Nurse-to-LA comical and more importantly, completely unrealistic given the fact that Nurse is currently on a long term deal with Toronto. The NBA insider gave his reasoning on an episode of the Posted Up Podcast with Chris Haynes.
"We've heard the Nick Nurse speculation which I find really funny. Not that Nick Nurse isn't a great coach because I think he's proven himself, right? But if you're going to get a coach that's under contract, you know what that requires? Compensation. Compensation in the form of draft picks. What don't the Lakers have, besides time, they ain't got no draft picks and you're going to need to give up a draft pick to trade Russell Westbrook. Explain to me how that works."
The compensation piece isn't just in play when it comes to Nurse. If the Lakers want to try to nab a current head coach from a playoff team, whether it's Philadelphia's Doc Rivers or Utah's Quin Snyder, they would have to make a trade to get either one in the building. That is, unless one or both of the aforementioned coaches are axed.
Optimism on LA hiring a quality candidate is very much needed for Lakers fans, but the Nurse proposition probably isn't rooted in reality.
