Lakers News: Latest Odds Revealed On Who Could Take Over as Next LA Head Coach

Whom will Rob Pelinka hire next?

Dec 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka looks on before / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

After a quick five-game first round playoff exit to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers' front office, led by Rob Pelinka, opted to can head coach Darvin Ham, following just two years in the job. L.A. is now on the hunt for what will be its third head coach in four seasons.

Though the issue clearly goes beyond coaching, Pelinka isn't exactly going to fire himself.

So who's next for a quick two-to-three-year head coaching stint?

Adam Thompson of Bookies.com has crunched the numbers and has projected odds for the hiring of several intriguing possibilities.

Ham's old boss, former Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer, has been assessed top odds at +400. Right behind him is lead Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn at +500, followed by ex-Villanova coach Jay Wright at +600 and All-Star point guard-turned-longtime assistant coach Sam Cassell (currently with the best team in the East, the Boston Celtics) at +650. Ham's assistant coach Phil Handy, who was just also fired by L.A., has been given +700 odds, which feels, well, pretty optimistic.

Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel, who Los Angeles rashly canned after offloading a lot of championship pieces for a washed-up and ill-fitting Russell Westbrook, is given +850 odds of receiving a call-up. Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is given +1000 odds, while LeBron James' podcast partner JJ Redick has netted +1200 odds. The field, meanwhile, has the second-best overall odds, at +500.

At some point, Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss will need to look inward and really do some soul-searching. The Lakers haven't had a head coach last longer than three years since Phil Jackson left in 2011 — including Vogel, with whom they won a title in his first season.

Ham did make some very strange lineup decisions (particulary when it came to figuring out his starting five this past season), but he didn't do anything egregious enough to warrant a firing, just one year removed from a surprise Western Conference Finals run. The Lakers' roster as currently comprised is just not athletic nor sharpshooting enough to truly compete in the league's upper echelons.

Even the best coach in the league isn't going to bring this current group much closer to its 18th Larry O'Brien Trophy.

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