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When the Pistons dismissed Monty Williams on June 19, a high-profile head coach emerged on the free agency market. Although several insiders suggested that the Lakers were not expected to target Williams to fill their head coaching vacancy, two former NBA champions urged the Purple & Gold franchise to consider hiring him as the successor to Darvin Ham.
Speaking on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on June 19, former Heat player Udonis Haslem advised the Lakers to hire Williams over rumored candidate JJ Redick.
“What I do know about Monty Williams is he has the respect of the NBA. He has the respect of the guys in the locker room,” Haslem said. “When you talk about the Lakers situation, we understand how great JJ’s basketball mind is, we understand that the potential for JJ to be a coach is through the roof, but the question we have is: Can he control the locker room? Can he quiet the noise? We understand that Monty Williams can control the locker room. He can quiet the noise.
“If you’re the Lakers, you have to do your due diligence,” Haslem continued. “You at least have to take a look at it [hiring Williams]. That’s your job to bring the best guy available to your organization and put your team in the best position to win.”
To Haslem’s point, Redick has no prior experience coaching at the collegiate or pro level and would be stepping into uncharted territory as Lakers coach.
Draymond Green Agrees
Warriors star Draymond Green also asked the Lakers to consider Williams, citing Anthony Davis‘ history of playing under Williams in a Pelicans uniform from 2013 to 2015.
“Monty Williams is now on the free agent market, and I know that the Los Angeles Lakers have been — I don’t know what’s going on, but I know something’s going to happen fast,” Green said June 19 on “The Draymond Green Show.” “You got the draft [and] free agency coming up, and it’s been quite a while [since Lakers’ search began].
“I don’t know what exactly is going on, but I know Anthony Davis loved Monty Williams when he played for him at New Orleans. Should the Lakers consider Monty Williams? I say, ‘Of course, you have to consider him.’ 100%. Especially with that tie [between Davis and Williams]. You definitely gotta consider him.”
As was widely reported at the time, Williams was a potential head coaching candidate for the Lakers in 2019, but instead chose the Phoenix Suns offered him the job.
Too Late in the Day for the Lakers?
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers would have considered Williams for the job had he become available a little earlier during their coaching search process. However, with the NBA Draft scheduled for June 26-27, the Rob Pelinka-led front office is racing against time to finalize Ham’s successor.
Speaking on “SportsCenter with SVP” on June 19, Woj explained why Williams to the Lakers was no longer a feasible option.
“If Monty Williams had been available to the Lakers when they started this search, perhaps he might meld into this search process,” Woj said. “Monty Wiliams was blindsided with his dismissal [from Detroit].”
Woj added that, as of June 19, the Lakers had “pivoted back” to Redick as their No. 1 coaching option following the rejection from UConn men’s head coach Dan Hurley.
