A recent report from Yahoo! Sports’ Vincent Goodwill should have fans of the Los Angeles Lakers worried about J.J. Redick spurning the team for a chance to be the head coach of the Detroit Pistons franchise.
“James Borrego could be a name to watch, league sources told Yahoo Sports, as well as ESPN analyst JJ Redick,” Goodwill wrote. “Redick is currently a prime candidate for the Lakers job, so it isn’t known how much traction Detroit could actually gain.”
Additionally, earlier this month, Goodwill provided a gloomy update regarding Redick’s interest in becoming the 29th head coach in the history of the Lakers franchise.
“Some folks around the league feel J.J. Redick won’t want to be involved with this circus, and that he won’t want to be a second choice, but he wants to coach,” Goodwill wrote. “The Lakers seem very intrigued by him for whatever reason and the focus will smoothly shift to him. Because, who else? The coaching cycle is nearly over, and Redick does a podcast with…LeBron James.”
The Pistons are the newest team in search of a head coach after the squad fired Monty Williams on Wednesday. Detroit decided to part ways with Williams just one year after the team inked him to a six-year deal worth $78.5 million.
In his lone year as the head coach of the Pistons, Williams led Detroit to a 14-68 record during the 2023-24 regular season, which was the worst in the league.
In terms of which team Redick would have a better chance of winning a lot of games with, the Lakers seemingly stand out as the best option. Los Angeles has arguably the best player in the history of the NBA on its roster in LeBron James and reached the Western Conference Finals in the year 2023.
As for Detroit, the team has no superstars on its roster and hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2019, when the Pistons got swept by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Plus, it has been quite some time since Detroit made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. The last time the Pistons played for the right to represent their conference in the NBA Finals was in 2008, which was well over a decade ago.
But while the Lakers are in a better position to win now, the Pistons have an impressive core that is built for the future. Led by Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson, Detroit isn’t lacking in youthful talent.
Expect to see Redick’s name get brought up connection to the Lakers as well as Pistons in the coming days.
