We’ve heard very little about the construction of Frank Vogel’s coaching staff beyond the hiring of Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins. That changed today with a report from ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and Adrian Wojnarowski:
Ron Adams has been on Steve Kerr’s staff for the Warriors entire run of success and, before that, was a key assistant under Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City. He’s known as a brutally honest defensive tactician and teacher, someone who likely cannot receive enough credit for how the Warriors (and Thunder) hovered at (or near) the top of the league in defensive rating during his time there.
Note, permission to speak to Adams does not mean he’ll be hired. That said, this news being out there implies at least a modicum of interest from Adams. To put it plainly, if Adams didn’t want to listen to the Lakers’ pitch, there’s no need to grant permission for the conversation to happen. Further, this speaks well to the Lakers intents in building a strong staff and, potentially, investing with the type of financial capital that I’ve wanted the team to leverage when seeking out it’s staff at all levels of the organization.
Getting back to the other point, though, Adams could easily return to the Warriors with a pay raise triggered by what the Lakers are offering. The Lakers should come in with a strong offer, then, not only because that will likely give them their best chance of pulling Adams but to make it as costly on the Warriors as they can. The Warriors, like the Lakers, print money, but, depending on if they’re able to retain Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, they could be facing a luxury tax bill well north of $200 million next season (and beyond).
We’ll continue to monitor this situation as it progresses. But, even if the Lakers aren’t successful in recruiting Ron Adams to join Vogel, just their attempt to do so reflects a positive step forward in how the team is looking to improve heading into what will be a pivotal year for the franchise after trading for Anthony Davis.