Lakers hire Frank Vogel as head coach, Jason Kidd to assist

A person familiar with the search says the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Frank Vogel as coach and Jason Kidd as an assistant.

Vogel, who is finalizing a three-year contract, flew to Los Angeles on Thursday and met with a group that included owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and adviser Kurt Rambis.

Vogel, 45, worked for the organization as an advance scout during the 2005-06 season. He did not coach last season following two years with the Orlando Magic. Vogel went to Orlando following five-plus seasons leading the Indiana Pacers, who he led to the Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and ’14. He has a career record of 304-291.

Kidd, who grew up in Oakland and went to Cal, interviewed with the Lakers last month. The former NBA player who was a head coach in Brooklyn and Milwaukee was fired by the Bucks during the 2017-18 season. He has a 183-190 record.

The Lakers have missed the playoffs six straight seasons. The drought was expected to end this season but injuries to LeBron James, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, as well as internal discord, resulted in a 37-45 record and cost head coach Luke Walton his job.

It’s an interesting pairing in many ways, including how Vogel was fired by Indiana in 2016 because he simply could never get past James in the playoffs.

The Pacers thought they had a title contender in 2012, 2013 and 2014 but James and the Miami Heat eliminated them in all three of those postseasons. Vogel won 58 percent of his games in parts of six seasons with Indiana, but the lasting image of his tenure there is the fact that those clubs were always ousted by Miami.

Now, Vogel and James will be on the same side, both looking for a resurgence. This season was James’ first without a playoff appearance since 2005 and ended his streak of eight...