JJ Redick would target Sam Cassell, James Borrego, and Jared Dudley as his assistants should he be named the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

Borrego is currently with the Pelicans, with Cassell with the Celtics. Dudley is an assistant with the Mavs.

Cassell is also reportedly being targeted as an assistant for Doc Rivers' staff with the Bucks.

The Lakers are said to be "infatuated" with the idea of hiring Redick. 

The NBA on TNT is running an alternate broadcast during the Western Conference Finals. Instead of traditional play-by-play and analysis, the broadcast on truTV is conversational and there are a variety of guests.

During Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, one of the guests was Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. Paul is perhaps most famously known at LeBron James' agent, and he may have given some insight into James' initial plans for this offseason.

"LeBron is a free agent," Paul said about his most famous client. Paul then clarified that the Los Angeles Lakers have to hire who they want as their next head coach and that James has always played for whoever his coach is.

When asked by TNT's Chris Haynes to clarify if that meant it was decided that James would decline his player option for the 2024-25 season with the Lakers, Paul said that decision hadn't been made yet. James can decline his option and become a free agent. He's also eligible to pick up the option and to sign an extension.

"I don't know what he's gonna do," Paul said. "We're gonna do what we do every year. We're gonna evaluate the situation and we're gonna make the best decision."

The Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Los Angeles Lakers discussed a trade involving D'Angelo Russell moving to the Nets and Dejounte Murray going to the Lakers at the trade deadline, sources told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

Trade negotiations eventually fell through between the Hawks and the Lakers.

The Nets would go on to trade for Dennis Schroder.

Russell has an $18.7 million player option this summer. Early indications are that Russell will decline the option to seek a multi-year deal.

Bronny James will work out for the Phoenix Suns ahead of the NBA draft in June.

The Suns own the No. 22 pick in the draft and James is among the players under considerations at that draft slot.

James has received over 10 workout invitations, but is expected to only visit a few teams including the Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.

Rich Paul recently went on record that James will not sign a Two-Way deal coming out of the draft.

“Yes, that’s absolutely true,” Paul said when asked about the two-way deal. “Teams know that. I’m not doing that.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are only in the preliminary stages of their head coaching search with J.J. Redick and James Borrego among the prominent candidates. Finalizing a decision is not expected to occur in the near future.

"They are in no rush in this search," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "I think there are candidates feeling the Lakers out, the Lakers feeling them out. This process is going to take awhile. There is no obvious choice. There just isn't. There is no star coach available that you would short circuit a search to hire.

"J.J. Redick's name has been prominent in this. He and Rob Pelinka really don't know each other very well. I think that's going to be a process to see potentially if they can work together."

There has been some speculation that ESPN would prefer Redick not to be hired for a head coaching job until he finishes his broadcast duties of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals. 

LeBron James has yet to make a decision on his $51.4 million player option with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 24-25 season, sources tell The Athletic.

James can opt-in or he can opt-out and become a free agent. If James were to have interest in playing for another team, the opt-in could be attractive as it would allow him to maintain his salary via trade. There are a limited number of teams with sufficient cap space to sign James to a contract anywhere close to his $51.4 million option.

James is expected to play up to two more seasons in the NBA.

LeBron James is keeping his options open ahead of free agency. James remains undecided on whether he'll pick up his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season, or if he'll enter unrestricted free agency.

The Lakers star is still considering the path he wants to take moving forward. James is expected to play up to two more seasons.

In recent weeks, James has distanced himself from the idea that he wants to play on the same team as son Bronny, who is an Early Entry Candidate for the 2024 NBA Draft. That hasn't stopped speculation that teams may draft Bronny James as a way to entice his father to sign with them as a free agent this summer.

The Los Angeles Lakers have begun the formal interview process to find their next head coach. Los Angeles has meet with a few candidates, and has meetings set up with several others. However, JJ Redick is starting to stand out among the pool of candidates.

The Lakers are reportedly "infatuated" with the idea of Redick as their next head coach. They see Redick as a Pat Riley-like coaching prospect who could lead the franchise for years.

Los Angeles has also interviewed James Borrego and Sam Cassell. They also plan to interview David Adelman, Micah Nori and Chris Quinn.

LeBron James is reportedly not involved in the process of identifying the team's next head coach. Los Angeles views the next head coach as more of a hire for a team led by Anthony Davis, than a team led by James.

The Los Angeles Lakers are considering hiring J.J. Redick as head coach, but LeBron James is reportedly not driving that candidacy. 

"I'm told LeBron James is not involved in the Lakers' head coaching search," said Shams Charania. "I reported on it last week: J.J. Redick, James Borrego and Sam Cassell are the lead initial targets.

"LeBron James James has made it clear that this is the organization's decision. He's had no conversions with the Lakers about JJ Redick, his podcast partner. He has had no conversations with J.J. about this position as well.

"I did speak to Rich Paul this morning. He said 'LeBron James and J.J. Redick do a podcast together. That does not mean that he wants J.J. Redick as his head coach.'

"But he is leaving it up to the organization. We'll see what LeBron James decides for his future. I'm told he's expected to play up to two more NBA season.

"The bottom line with LeBron James is this: if he was making the decisions for the Lakers, Ty Lue would have been the head coach in 2019. Kyrie Irving would be his point guard if he was running the team."

Charania went on to express the thinking that this coaching hire has as much to do with Anthony Davis as it does with James. 

James could become a free agent this offseason, but he is widely expected to remain with the Lakers. 

J.J. Redick is considered by many to be the early favorite to become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

The Lakers have been slow to advance their search, but have scheduled a number of interviews for the coming days. The Washington Wizards are the only other team to currently have a head coaching vacancy and are not believed to be considering the same candidates.

If Redick is hired by the Lakers, the timing of an announcement could be delayed until after the conclusion of The Finals. Redick is part of ESPN/ABC's lead broadcast team after he replaced Doc Rivers midseason when he returned to coaching with the Milwaukee Bucks. ESPN parted ways with their longtime lead analysts Jeff Van Gunde and Mark Jackson last summer.