If you caught that article here yesterday about the Lakers plans to pursue Tom Thibodeau, well, the rumor has been immediately addressed and shot down by general manager Mitch Kupchak.
A tweet from Jordan Schultz of the Huffington Post bared that the Lakers were interested in getting Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau should rumors hold true about his impending firing.
The rumor spread like wildfire and place current head coach Byron Scott in a fix. Are the Lakers replacing Scott this early?
Being told that the Lakers will be pursuing Tom Thibodeau. Byron Scott has just the one year left. Lakers would be paying four head coaches.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 20, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Kupchak, apparently alarmed with the said tweet/rumor and knowing how it could disturb Scott said that he would be calling Scott and tell him that agents were simply doing their job. He adds that they are incredibly happy with Scott and that the whole thing is marketing-related mix at building some rapport for Thibodeau.
Scott isn't exactly under fire from another sorry season which saw the Lakers fall to a pretty dismal record and miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Scott was however known for getting under the nerves of his players but such never really became a serious concern for Kupchak and Lakers management. Hence, the surprising rumor was something that many did not see coming.
In fact Scott was even on hand during the NBA Draft which makes the Schultz' tweet quite puzzling.
With all that aside, the Lakers hold the second pick in the coming NBA Draft. Many believe that Scott and the Lakers will use that pick to select either Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns, whoever the Minnesota Timberwolves leave behind.
But adding some spice once again are rumors that the Lakers could be going for a guard instead. The names of D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay have surfaced and it remains to be seen if there is any truth to the Lakers passing up Towns or Okafor for now.
Aside from that, the Lakers are keeping a close eye on the upcoming free agents. With available salary cap space, the Lakers can pursue big men Kevin Love, Marc Gasol, DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge or even Greg Monroe.
With a busy offseason ahead, it looks like Kupchak and Scott will have a lot of work to do to get the Lakers back on the (winning) track.
