Source – Lakers hire JJ Redick as team coach on four-year contract

The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four-year contract to name JJ Redick the team’s next coach, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Redick, an ESPN NBA analyst who played in the league for 15 years, met with Lakers executive vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss over the weekend, and discussions about the vacancy continued throughout the week, people said.

Pelinka offered Redick the job Thursday morning, sources said.

Pelinka was attracted to Redick’s ability to communicate with players and his basketball IQ and believes surrounding Redick with an elite coaching staff will help shorten the learning curve in his first coaching job, the people said.

Redick was thrust to the forefront of the recruiting hunt a week ago after the Lakers were ultimately rebuffed in their bid to acquire University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley.

According to sources, the Lakers offered Hurley a six-year, $70 million contract, which he turned down earlier this week.

Pelinka still wants an instructional coach and staff that can prioritize the development of young players like Max Christie, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, as he has asked Hurley to do, and can come up with creative approaches to using Anthony Davis on both ends of the court, people familiar with the matter said.

Redick has a strong relationship with Lakers star LeBron James, and they co-host a basketball podcast together.