(ESPN) – Negotiations between the Los Angeles Lakers and Tyronn Lue have reached an impasse without an agreement to make him the franchise’s next head coach, league sources told ESPN.
Lue and his representatives turned down the Lakers’ offer Tuesday, league sources said. The Lakers then on Wednesday offered Lue a deal in the range of three years and $18 million after which Lue’s side pulled out of negotiations.
According to the sources, Lue’s camp was seeking a five-year deal with a salary commensurate with a championship resume.
Beyond an inability to agree on contractual terms, the Lakers had proposed several scenarios involving their preferred candidates for assistant coaches, including Jason Kidd, sources said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers still owe Lue $10-plus million on his contract payout, and accepting a less-than-market-value deal from the Lakers could ultimately cost him money. Several days of discussions culminated Wednesday without an agreement that will reunite Lue and LeBron James, a partnership that delivered Cleveland the NBA championship in 2016. Lue was a preferred choice of James, but his championship history as a Lakers player — coupled with his successful run as Cavaliers coach — also played a strong role in the Lakers offering him the job.
Man, the Los Angeles Lakers really are the gift that keeps on giving. No matter how shitty the state of your favorite NBA franchise may be, you can sit back and smile that at least you’re not the Lakers. Before we dive into this let’s just have a quick recap of how things have gone since the brought in LeBron James
– Missed the playoffs for the millionth year in a row
– Tried to trade everyone for AD because LeBron demanded it, and it ruined their chemistry
– Luke Walton got fired, and couldn’t be happier
– Magic surprisingly stepped down due to some mean emails
– Pat Riley told the Lakers to go screw that he wouldn’t come back and save them
– Kobe said he would rather be retired and coaching his daughters than come back and save them
– Monty Williams turned them down to be their next head coach, instead opting to be employed by perhaps the worst owner in the entire league for a team that can’t win more than 25 games
– Ty Lue now also rejected the Lakers offer
I mean that’s pretty goddamn crazy for a team that’s supposed to be this great destination. Nobody wants to tough this team with a 10 foot pole and I’m not sure I blame them. Let’s look at this Lue situation in particular. Everyone knows he became the top choice after Monty Williams because LeBron wanted him. He wanted them to bring in another coach who know the deal, that he’s a puppet for whatever LeBron wants. The Lakers said fine, and pursued him. How do we know that? Look at their offer of a 3 year deal. How many years does LeBron have left? Three. It’s pretty clear that the Lakers probably prefer Jason Kidd for this head coaching position which is why they wanted Lue to hire him. Basically telling Lue, look we want this other guy but LeBron is making us do this so take this 3 year deal so at least when LeBron eventually has you fired we’re already in a good spot.
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Are the Lakers fucking delusional? Once Lue pressed for a 5 year deal which would have meant committing to him past the LeBron Era, suddenly they couldn’t come to an agreement. Good on Lue for standing firm, it’s not like he needs to money since he’s still collecting from CLE. So now with him off the list, here is who the Lakers are considering
Do any of those guys move the needle in LA? I’m not so sure. Honestly this all just comes back to LeBron in my opinion. He wanted Walton out, got his wish and figured he could just replace him with his friend who he wouldn’t have to listen to. Little did he know that Ty Lue actually has a spine and wasn’t willing to go through CLE 2.0.
Better yet, if you’re a potential blue chip free agent and you see all this going down, is this a franchise you want to commit your prime too? Especially when you could just join the Clippers since they will have just as much money? As crazy at it sounds, the Lakers have now become the laughingstock in that city. They’ve become the Clippers of old and it’s absolutely incredible.
