Hurley's flirtation with the Lakers only lasted a few days but here's who came out ahead and behind
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Hurley's flirtation with the Lakers only lasted a few days but here's who came out ahead and behind
By
Kyle Boone &
Sam Quinn
Winner: UConn keeps their man
Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The University of Connecticut, bar none, walks away today as the biggest winner of the ordeal. It went toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Lakers and successfully fended off the historically proud franchise to retain its coach. Hurley is negotiating a new deal with the school, but it's unlikely the money is in the same ballpark as the deal he turned down. For UConn, that says a lot about the state of the program and the comfort he and his family have with where they're at right now.
— Boone
Loser: Jeanie Buss can't get deal done
This is at least the third time that Jeanie Buss has failed to secure her preferred coaching candidate. The 2012 pursuit of Phil Jackson was stymied by her brother, Jim Buss, who preferred Mike D'Antoni and technically controlled basketball operations at the time. The 2019 pursuit of Ty Lue was a much more direct representation of her shortcomings as an owner. The Lakers offered Lue, a former champion, only three years and $18 million to coach the team. He justifiably balked. When the Lakers landed Frank Vogel, they also committed to him for just three years. When he won the 2020 championship, he was rewarded with a one-year extension ten months later.
Obviously, a $70 million offer for UConn's Hurley represents a significant jump in the sort of money the Lakers are willing to offer a coach, but yet again, it's short of what the market dictated. The Pistons, a team with far less revenue to work with, paid Monty Williams more last offseason on a $78.5 million deal. Proven
NBA champions like Lue, Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich are making even more than that on a per-year basis. Perhaps Hurley shouldn't be paid as much as the best coaches in the NBA on merit, but if you're going to lure a lifelong East Coast resident to California and away from his shot at a three-peat, you'd better come at him with a godfather offer. The Lakers didn't. Once again, this team's hesitance to spend on anything other than star players has come back to bite them. That's a reflection on the owner. –
Quinn
Winner: College basketball keeps its best coach
In an offseason in which
college football national champion-winning coach Jim Harbaugh walked away to join the pros as coach of the L.A. Chargers, college basketball gets a boost in hanging on to its reigning, repeat title-winning coach. It would have been understandable had Hurley bounced -- it's LeBron James, it's L.A., it's the Lakers -- but in staying at UConn, the college hoops world keeps its best coach in the fold. Bonus: Hurley also happens to be the best quote in the game and a true wild-card who could at any point create a viral moment from the sideline.
— Boone
Loser: College basketball teams still chasing UConn
Yes, yes, I know: I just listed college basketball a winner. But make no mistake: college basketball in general is absolutely a loser here. Losing Hurley might've leveled the playing field a bit for schools vying to win titles. With Hurley back, UConn for the foreseeable future will remain one of, if not the biggest, hurdles to doing so for other college basketball teams. This is a dynasty that might just be getting off the ground. Good luck, teams not named UConn. Good luck.
— Boone
Winner: Whoever ultimately gets the Laker job
Suddenly, the optics of hiring a risky candidate like JJ Redick are a bit better. They're no longer positioning him as a generational young coaching prospect as reports were before the Hurley flirtation. Now, the Lakers can at least say they tried to go the traditional route. That takes some pressure off of Redick, or whoever is ultimately hired, because the expectations won't be nearly as high. It also likely doesn't hurt that the Lakers have tipped their hands financially a bit. A $70 million offer for Hurley might have been a low-ball, but by the standard of most coaches, that's a windfall. No other candidate we know of at this time is going to command such a salary, but it's hard to imagine they'll cheap out on their ultimate selection after throwing that much at Hurley. They won't want to make it seem as though they're settling, after all. –
Quinn
Winner: Hurley's bank account will get a boost
Hurley signed a deal last year after leading UConn to a championship but he is once again in line to sign a new deal in the immediate future after repeating with the Huskies.
Matt Norlander says he expects the new deal to topple the $8 million mark annually, which would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. And turning down
Kentucky and the Lakers in the same offseason likely guarantees UConn will smash the piggy bank open and do everything it can to get Hurley and his staff paid handsomely. Here's more from
ESPN:
— Boone
Loser: Rick Pitino still in Hurley's shadow
There are several candidates who could've made runs at the next King of the Big East had Hurley hoofed it to L.A. -- Shaheen Holloway, Shaka Smart, Sean Miller among them -- but none were more qualified than Rick Pitino at
St. John's. Instead, Pitino and his Johnnies remain an afterthought not only in the Big East, but also in the northeast -- where
Providence and UConn remain the big dogs of the region in the conference.
— Boone
