Failure to Get Dan Hurley Is Ominous Start to Lakers' Offseason amid NBA Rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers need to use the 2024 NBA offseason to transform them from a play-in participant to a full-fledged contender.

They had seemingly identified the first part of that plan. Until they failed to secure it.

Los Angeles' courtship of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley ended in failure Monday, as Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported he decided to reject a six-year, $70 million contract offer to remain with the Huskies.

While other names have surfaced in—and at earlier points, seemingly led—this search, Hurley wass pretty clearly their preferred pick. Wojnarowski previously described Hurley as being "at the forefront of the Lakers' search from the beginning of the process."

The interest was obviously warranted, too.

Beyond steering the school to consecutive titles, Hurley has consistently delivered high-end results with player development and showcased an offensive system so impressive that even LeBron James has taken note:

Hurley is a certified coaching star at the college ranks, and while that doesn't necessarily guarantee success at the NBA level, it obviously wouldn't have hurt his chances.

The Lakers needed a win like this. And convincing him to leave UConn, where he's won those two titles and appears on-paper to have an actual shot at three-peating next season if he stays, would absolutely have qualified as a win.

It wouldn't have been gambling that JJ Redick's experience and basketball IQ could make him a successful coach without having tangible evidence of how he'd handle the profession. It's not cross-fingered hoping that things go better for James Borrego in Hollywood than they did in Orlando (where he went 10-30 as an interim coach) or Charlotte (where he failed to book a playoff trip in any of his four seasons).

It would have been convincing a wildly successful coach that he could be wildly successful with them. The optics on getting him to take that chance would have been incredible.

And let's not forget that James hasn't committed to running things back with the Lakers yet. Sure, there aren't really reports of him considering a scenery change, but the fact remains his current contract shows only a $51.4 million player option for next season, per Spotrac. Perhaps he's wanting to see the direction this organization is headed before deciding whether it's the right path for him.

That's why the Lakers needed this. Regardless whether you or I think Hurley was the best candidate for the job, they almost certainly did. After being unable to convince him to come, it's hard not to label that as anything other than a failure and a disappointment.

This is the last thing L.A. needed. Not in an offseason that perhaps looms as the last possible chance to make a championship push with James and Anthony Davis.

Those two players can form a championship foundation. They proved that in the bubble.

Still, they can only do so much on their own.

They need a coach who not only commands their respect, but also leverages it in a way to maximize their impact. They need a supporting cast capable of providing championship-level support. And then they need that same skipper to solve the puzzle of putting the various role players in all of the right places and coaching them up to thrive in those roles.

It's a tall task—and that's before accounting for the Hollywood spotlight and the extra attention that comes along with overseeing any portion of James' once-in-a-generation career.

If the Lakers saw Hurley as the coach capable of checking all the boxes they need filled, then they had to get him—full stop. Failure to get his signature could loom as the first sign that this offseason won't actually become the transformational summer they need it to be.