NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers Hiring JB Bickerstaff

NBA rumors are swirling around JB Bickerstaff. Now that he has decided to pull his name from considerations for the Houston Rockets head coaching position, he has sprung up on a lot of wish lists from teams looking for a lead assistant. According to Lakers Nation, Luke Walton would love to bring Bickerstaff to Los Angeles. This would be an interesting opportunity for Bickerstaff to rebuild his name value in the National Basketball Association.

JB Bickerstaff knew when to walk away from the Houston Rockets. After spending much of the season as the interim head coach and leading the team to the NBA Playoffs, he was really hoping that management would reward him with the job on a permanent basis. After interviewing with the Rockets, Bickerstaff got the sense that the team was going to hire another candidate. At that point, he decided to remove himself from consideration so that he can start looking for work with another team.

Since Luke Walton does not have a ton of experience as a coach, the belief is that he is going to surround himself with assistants that are much more experienced than he is. JB Bickerstaff fits that bill, as he has a dozen years of experience as a coach in the NBA. The 37-year-old has been with the Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Houston Rockets.

JB Bickerstaff might have some competition for the lead assistant coach spot with the Los Angeles Lakers. There are talks that Luke Walton is also going to hire Brian Shaw for the spot. The former Laker guard is said to only be interested in the lead position because he wants a second chance to be a head coach in the NBA. His stint with the Denver Nuggets did not do as well as he had hoped.

The success of the Golden State Warriors might have quite the adverse effect on the coaching careers of JB Bickerstaff and Brian Shaw. Luke Walton is not leaving the Warriors until their run in the NBA Playoffs is over. With the way that they’re playing right now, it appears that they’re at least going to be heading back to the Western Conference Finals. With assistant coaching jobs being filled rapidly, Bickerstaff and Shaw might miss out on some opportunities by waiting for the Los Angeles Lakers job.

One of the big tasks for the new Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff is to get the younger guys to learn how to play together. Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and Julius Randle are extremely talented players. However, they still need to learn how to gel and win games. JB Bickerstaff was tasked with getting the Houston Rockets to build chemistry, but that job proved to be a bit much for him.

Taking the gig with the Los Angeles Lakers might be a very good career move for JB Bickerstaff. Since he would be coaching one of the most talked about teams in the NBA, he’ll receive plenty of attention from the media. Fans will get to know his name. If he can help Luke Walton get the team back to their winning ways, then Bickerstaff could be interviewing for head coaching jobs again very soon.

JB Bickerstaff appears to be a very focused individual. Instead of being upset with how the situation with the Houston Rockets ended, he immediately decided to get right back on the horse. Bickerstaff badly wants another shot at being a head coach in the NBA. He’s smart enough to know that the opportunity isn’t there right now, so he’s taking the second best option available to him.