NBA rumors: Lakers-Redick stall, Knicks biggest free agent threat, Cavs leading HC candidate

With the NBA season only having 5 more games at the maximum, the rumor mill is starting to heat up as teams make coaching hiring decisions and look for upgrades in player personnel. With this in mind, insiders have reported three big rumors that will surely get NBA fans buzzing throughout the offseason.

NBA Rumors: Lakers have had 'minimal contact; with JJ Redick

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Lakers have not had a lot of contact with head coaching candidate JJ Redick. This comes as the franchise just lost out on their chance to land Dan Hurley after the head coach decided to return to the University of Connecticut to defend the school's back-to-back title run.

At the very least, this piece of news seems to signal that the Lakers may have been bluffing when it came to actually considering Redick for the coaching position. He was widely considered to be the favorite before the Hurley news broke and now we find out that they never even officially interviewed him. The former NBA veteran has no coaching experience outside of youth basketball and will probably face growing pains. These growing pains are something that the Lakers may not be willing to deal with on a roster that at least is looking to contend for a title in the next two years.

The Lakers may look to hire Redick as the coaching pool starts to shorten but the roster would likely be in a better spot if they hired someone like Jay Wright who has a ton of coaching experience. Wright doesn't have any experience coaching in the NBA but the title-winning coach coached college basketball for 28 years and led Villanova to titles in the 2010s. James Borrego and Kenny Atkinson are other very experienced candidates they're considering.

As the Lakers continue to search for the head coach of the franchise, a Western Contender is primed to take a key Knicks free agent away from the other coast of the USA.

NBA rumors: Western Conference contender primed to steal Knicks free agent from franchise

According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the Oklahoma City Thunder are "viewed by NBA sources as the top threat to pry [Isaiah] Hartenstein away from the Knicks in free agency." This comes as the Thunder have $35+ million in cap space and desperately need size to compete in a tough Western conference.

New York is already limited in what they can offer Hartenstein since the franchise is already over the cap. The squad can only offer Hartenstein a four-year, $72 million deal. It has been projected that teams will offer the veteran as much as $100 million over four years. It's unclear if the Thunder are one of the teams that will do this but it makes sense for Oklahoma City to offer this kind of deal.

With Chet Holmgren being the squad's only lone component big man (well Holmgren is better than good but the franchise is lacking other veteran big men around him), the franchise needs veteran big men that can play minutes around their young core. Hartenstein, who would likely not try and mess the franchise young and rising offensive game by commanding the ball is probably the best addition that the Thunder can realistically make this offseason.

Yes, there is still a world where the New York Knicks can re-sign Hartenstein but it's hard to see Hartenstein reject that big of a contract from a contending team that has just as good a chance to win a title in the next two to three years. Even if the Knicks can keep Hartenstein, there will certainly be talks about how the center chooses to stay in New York over a bigger contract with a contending team.

As the Knicks try to keep key pieces of their roster together, one of their in-conference rivals is making headway on their head coach search.

NBA rumors: Cavaliers have leading head coach candidate

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, James Borrego is gaining "momentum in Cleveland." This comes after the Cavs decided to fire J. B. Bickerstaff after a 170-159 coaching record in five seasons for Cleveland.

The Cavs are likely trying their best to make sure that their superstar Donovan Mitchell is happy with the coaching hire as the veteran can be a free agent next offseason. Before landing as an assistant with the Pelicans, Borrego was the head coach for the Charlotte Hornets lasting only four seasons and having a 138-163 record. The coach also lasted half of a season with the Orlando Magic in 2014-15 (10-20 record) as the interim head coach.

As a whole, the Cavs are likely doing the right thing by interviewing Borrego as the head coach is one of the top head coaching candidates left and could actually be a long-term solution to Cleveland's head coaching problem. Yes, his tenure with the Hornets was a bit of a mixed bag but at this point, there aren't a lot of great candidates left.