J.J. Redick already picking out his assistant coaches if he gets the Lakers' job

The L.A. Lakers are in the midst of a head coaching search and one candidate seems to be the clear frontrunner — J.J. Redick. Marc Stein reported on his Substack (h/t Hoops Rumors) that Redick "has several assistants in mind if he becomes the Lakers‘ next head coach". The coach wants to add "Celtics assistant Sam Cassell and Pelicans assistant James Borrego" as well as veteran Jared Dudley.

Redick currently works with ESPN as a commentator after playing 15 years in the NBA. The former Clipper could end up being a great head coach in this league but it's likely that Redick will undergo some learning pains with this being his first coaching job outside of youth basketball.

The former NBA veteran recently started hosting a podcast with Lakers' soon-to-be free agent LeBron James in early March. James, who is heading into free agency is likely not the main priority of the franchise with Anthony Davis taking over that role. As Redick starts to recruit his assistant coaching staff with a pitch possibly similar to Nick Fury in The Avengers, it's worth wondering if the Lakers can succeed with him as the head coach of the franchise.

Can J.J. Redick succeed as head coach of the Lakers?

While Redick has demonstrated in his ESPN broadcasts that he has a great basketball mind, the former Duke star will likely have some growing pains as he comes into the league as a head coach. Being a head coach requires a lot of in-game decisions that are not easy to make and need to be made in a split-second fashion.

With the ESPN analyst never being in a head coaching spot before, it's hard to see a world where the possible future head coach doesn't make mistakes during his couple of seasons. Yes, the assistant coaching staff that he is trying to assemble is great but the entire league doesn't exist for the Lakers to feed on them.

With that in mind, it's not clear if these assistant coaches will leave their current positions to an unstable L.A. franchise that is clearly undergoing issues. Also, both Cassell and Borrego are seeking head coach openings themselves and joining Redick's staff might not actually get them any closer.