Windhorst: Many NBA Insiders View Lakers HC Job as Less Attractive Than Cavaliers

ESPN's Brian Windhorst believes "many people" would prefer to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Los Angeles Lakers.

"For many people in the NBA, I think they would think that the Cavs job is more attractive," Windhorst said Tuesday on ESPN Cleveland.

Windhorst continued: "No. 1, and the most important reason, is that the Cavs roster is better. The Cavs have a better team than the Lakers do... secondly, the Cavs play in the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference right now, the ability to compete and win at the highest level, it's an easier path.

"And frankly, the Cavs organization might out-pay the Lakers on the head coach."

Windhorst's comments come the day after ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that UConn head coach Dan Hurley turned down a $70 million offer from the Lakers in order to return to the NCAA.

The Lakers are still seeking to replace Darvin Ham, whom the team fired after two seasons in May.

The Cavaliers are meanwhile seeking to replace former head coach JB Bickerstaff, who was also fired in May after his fourth full season with the team.

The Lakers and Cavaliers could now be pursuing the same candidate in New Orleans Pelicans associate coach James Borrego, who also served as head coach of the Charlotte Hornets from 2018 to 2022.

Borrego, the only candidate other than Hurley to visit the Lakers as part of his head coaching interview, is also considered a "finalist" for the Cavaliers job, Windhorst reported.

Both the Cavaliers and Lakers have major questions to answer this offseason, including LeBron James' pending player option decision and the fact that Donovan Mitchell is heading into the final guaranteed year of his contract.

Despite these roster uncertainties, the Cavaliers could potentially put together a more attractive deal by offering a higher salary, Windhorst noted.

The deal the Lakers offered Hurley would have made him one of the six highest-paid coaches in the league, according to Wojnarowski, although Windhorst reported that some NBA executives were discussing the offer as a potential "lowball."

If Borrego doesn't work out, the Lakers could choose to pursue ESPN analyst JJ Redick, whom The Athletic's Shams Charania described as the "front-runner" prior to Wojnarowski's identification of Hurley as the team's top choice.

No matter the Lakers' final decision, 2024-25 will not be the first season Los Angeles has begun with a head coach that was publicly known not to be the team's first choice. The Lakers signed former head coach Frank Vogel in 2019 after both Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams turned down earlier offers.