Believe it or not: Suns head coach job is better than the Lakers
By Adam Maynes
There is a greater chance a new HC is in Phoenix longer than Los Angeles
As mentioned before, even if one looks at the L.A. Lakers as a superior franchise overall (not discussing history, but their current state of affairs), they have still missed the playoffs in each of the previous six seasons, and while most everybody believed that the addition of James would vault them to the top of the Western Conference in 2018-19, he failed to do so, and there is no guarantee that they will be able to add the kind of talent this summer to make such a leap as inevitable as it once felt.
There too is the belief that whoever James Jones hires this summer, that coach will finally be safe to remain with the franchise for a minimum of three seasons, unless things somehow go terribly, horribly wrong.
The new head coach will be a part of a building and growing young core, and with roster improvement will be able to stay along with them throughout the process.
If he manages to make the playoffs within the next two seasons and appears he will be able to keep that run going for several more beyond that, three years could easily turn into four and beyond, something that the Suns haven’t had since Mike D’Antoni.
With LeBron James on the roster, it is fair to say that the Lakers will presumably have a much better chance of winning a title at some point in the next two years, however, if they do not (especially if they miss the playoffs again in 2019-20) the amount of desperation surrounding the franchise will rise exponentially.
There is a chance that like Igor in Phoenix this past year, the head coach who is hired next for L.A. will essentially be on a year-to-year deal, regardless of the formal length of contract that he signed.
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While one might make a strong argument that the L.A. Lakers are the better franchise than the Phoenix Suns at the moment, there is no doubt that not only are the two franchise’s perilously close to one another in their current situation, but the open Phoenix Suns job truly is the better stop for all prospective head coaches.