LeBron James May Be One of the Reasons the Lakers Haven't Hired a New Head Coach Yet

According to reports, the Lakers aren't going to hire a new head coach until they see if they can land a big free agent like LeBron James.

Image via USA TODAY Sports

The Lakers had one of their worst seasons in franchise history this year. So you would think that they would be clamoring to replace their former head coach Mike D'Antoni with a new head coach right now, especially since teams like the Warriors and Knicks are snatching up all of the good candidates. But you would think wrong. Because at the moment, the Lakers seem to be dragging their feet with regards to filling their head coaching vacancy. But there might be a very good reason for that.

According to USA TODAY Sports, the Lakers are holding out hope and thinking that they might be able to sign a big-name free agent like Carmelo Anthony or even LeBron James this summer. So before they go and find a head coach, they want to explore their free agency options after the 2014 NBA Finals end and see who they can sign. And then, once they see who will or won't join their team during the offseason, they'll make a decision about who to hire to coach the Lakers next season.

If this is all true, it makes perfect sense. Assuming the Lakers are going to go after free agents like Carmelo and LeBron, they probably should hold off on hiring a head coach. But if they whiff in free agency and don't sign any stars to their roster this summer, they're going to put themselves in a really tough spot and possibly limit their chances of succeeding next season due to their head coaching situation. So they'd better cross their fingers and hope that this strategy works. Or else...

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[via USA TODAY Sports]

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