Lakers believe Austin Reaves, Max Christie, Rui Hachimura could show ‘great improvements’ under Dan Hurley

If Dan Hurley does land the Lakers head coaching job, he’ll reportedly be brought in to help develop young talent just as much as he’ll be brought in to coach LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers are still in the middle of a coaching search, but just when it looked like we knew where things were going, a new candidate emerged.

Suddenly, rumors have transitioned from JJ Redick as the coach the Lakers are “zeroing in” on to the franchise targeting UConn’s Dan Hurley for the position. This is new to everyone publicly, but it appears that Hurley has been Lakers No. 1 candidate from the start of the coaching search.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, one of the reasons he’s a strong candidate is the belief that he can help develop the younger players on the roster.

“Part of the allure of Hurley traces back to the changing landscape of NBA roster building under the collective bargaining agreement. Because of the roster-building limitations of the new second apron, the ability of big-market teams to construct contending rosters by trading multiple draft picks and young players for a third star player has largely been eliminated. Beyond the 17th pick in this month’s draft, the Lakers have a young core of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Max Christie that management believes can still show even greater improvement under Hurley’s coaching, sources said.”

The Lakers looking within for improvement is interesting with free agency looming. There certainly seems to be more development that can be made with the trio of Max Christie, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves, as all three had somewhat disappointing seasons in 2024.

Christie spent more time off the floor than on in his sophomore season in purple and gold, Reaves struggled early on and was briefly — and controversially — benched and Hachimura didn’t take the step forward many expected.

Hurley becoming head coach to develop players like Christie, Hachimura and Reaves would show that the organization is building on the future and focusing more on life after LeBron James than just doing whatever they think the King wants.

It’s been made clear by James’ agent, Rich Paul, that he is not involved in the Lakers coaching search. And while it’s fair to be skeptical about that claim, a move for Hurley and youth development instead of his podcast partner, Redick, certainly helps back that claim up.

Ultimately, the best coach for the Lakers would be the best coach for LeBron. Everyone wants to win, and no one has hinted at rebuilding. If Hurley can help LeBron and the Lakers win banner No. 18, that’s the best move they can make.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.