Getty Juwan Howard, who could possibly become the next Lakers Head Coach.
In the fallout from a disastrous first season with LeBron James, the rumor mill is firing on all cylinders with head coach Luke Walton in the hot seat. As such, a number of options have been named as a possible successor to lead LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-2020. Betting odds were even released and incumbent coach Luke Walton only sits with the third best odds to retain his job. Leading the field is former player and current Miami Heat assistant, Juwan Howard.
ESPN analyst and Juwan Howard’s former Fab 5 teammate at Michigan, Jalen Rose, decided to weigh in on the subject. Rose touched mainly on how he feels that Howard would fit in as head coach of the storied franchise on ESPN’s First Take.
Lakers, LeBron James ‘Makes Sense’ for Juwan Howard as Coach Says Analyst on ESPN’s First Take
During his three minute breakdown of Juwan Howard’s fit as head coach of the Lakers, Rose harped heavily on the importance of connections at the NBA level and how Howard is connected on multiple fronts within the Laker organization.
“Magic Johnson, the team president, he’s also a Michigan native. Rob Pelinka played in college with Juwan and I. Lebron James, was just hugging Juwan Howard in Miami when they won a championship.” Rose said, adding, “So it seems like if you’re gonna bring somebody in, you bring somebody in that’s been established – like he has – and that you’re familiar with. So to me, that makes sense.”
Rose brings up some great points, especially considering how Howard is well-connected within the Laker organization and more importantly, has the respect of star player LeBron James.
Los Angeles Lakers 2019 Offseason Outlook
With boatloads of cap flexibility and some intriguing (albeit injured) young pieces, the Lakers sit in an interesting place headed into the 2019 offseason. Despite landing their superstar free agent last season, the Lakers have tried – and failed – to find themselves a second star either in free agency last season or via trade this season.
With LeBron starting to enter his twilight years and missing extended time due to injury for the first time in his long career, finding and getting a secondary option is more paramount than ever for the storied franchise than ever at this crucial juncture. With potentially one of the most loaded free agent classes in history on the books in 2019, the Lakers should have plenty of opportunities to find themselves a running mate for LeBron (if they don’t ship off half the team for Anthony Davis before).
It will be interesting to see how the Lakers fare in the offseason given their struggles to land a star not named LeBron James but if one thing can be assumed, it is that the Lakers will be one of the most active teams in free agency this year.