Lakers Rumors: LA 'Openly Smitten' with Clippers' Ty Lue as HC amid JJ Redick Buzz

It reportedly isn't much of a secret that the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in L.A. Clippers head coach Ty Lue.

"The Lakers have been openly smitten with the idea of getting Ty Lue," ESPN's Zach Lowe said on The Lowe Post podcast on Tuesday (1:17:30 mark).

This is not the first time the Purple and Gold have been connected to Lue.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported on Friday that the Lakers planned an "extensive search" to replace Darvin Ham, which would include Lue, JJ Redick, Mike Budenholzer and Kenny Atkinson, among others.

On Wednesday, Sean Deveney of Heavy cited an Eastern Conference executive who said LeBron James would love to be reunited with Lue.

"That's his guy," the executive said. "Out of all the coaches LeBron has ever had, the one he singles out is Ty. Now he is in a position where he has free-agency on his side and he can maybe force the team to do something to get his guy if he gets fired."

The executive added that the idea of James "pulling strings and dictating moves … gets way overblown" even though the expectation is the Lakers would "push" for Lue if he became available.

That James has an affinity for Lue is no surprise, as they enjoyed success with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They reached three straight NBA Finals in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and famously defeated the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the first of those matchups.

Yet Lue is still the head coach of the Clippers, so the Lakers may have to look elsewhere if that fact doesn't change.