Winners and losers of Dan Hurley turning down Lakers: UConn can rejoice; Jeanie Buss, Rick Pitino take a loss

Dan Hurley will remains head coach of the Connecticut Huskies. The Los Angeles Lakers failed make him the next franchise coach after leading UConn to back-to-back national titles when Hurley turned down the team’s six-year, $70 million offer, keeping him tied to Storrs, Conn., as he seeks to join John Wooden as the only men’s college basketball coach to three-peat. (Wooden, in fact, seven-peat. Hurley has a long way to go to get there.)

The decision is a boon for the Big East and the best program within it — and, on the other hand, a crushing blow to the Lakers, who reportedly had their eye on Hurley since beginning their search following Darvin Ham’s firing.

Below are the winners and losers of the fallout from Hurley’s stiff arm in LA and his choice to backtrack with UConn.

Winner: UConn keeps its man

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. The University of Connecticut, without exception, emerges today as the biggest winner of the ordeal. He faced the Los Angeles Lakers and successfully fended off the historically proud franchise to retain their coach. Hurley is negotiating a new deal with the school, but the money is unlikely to be on par with the deal he turned down. For UConn, that says a lot about the state of the program and the comfort he and his family have where they are now. -Boone

Loser: Jeanie Buss fails to close the deal

This is at least the third time that Jeanie Buss has failed to secure her preferred coaching candidate. The search for Phil Jackson in 2012 was thwarted by his brother, Jim Buss, who preferred Mike D’Antoni and technically controlled basketball operations at the time. The pursuit of Ty Lue in 2019 was a much more direct representation of his shortcomings as an owner. The Lakers offered Lue, a former champion, just three years and $18 million to coach the team. He justifiably refused. When the Lakers signed Frank Vogel, they also only committed to him for three years. When he won the 2020 championship, he was rewarded with a one-year extension ten months later.

Obviously, a $70 million offer for UCpnn’s Hurley represents a significant jump in the kind of money the Lakers are willing to offer a coach, but once again, it falls short of what the market dictates. The Pistons, a team with much less revenue to work with, paid Monty Williams more last offseason in a $78.5 million deal. Proven NBA champions like Lue, Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich are earning even more than that per year. Maybe Hurley shouldn’t be paid as much as the NBA’s best coaches on merit, but if you’re going to lure a longtime East Coast resident to California and away from his shot at a three-peat, you’d better come at him with an offer of godfather. Not the Lakers. Once again, this team’s hesitation to spend on anything other than star players has caught up with them again. This is a reflection on the owner. – Quinn

Winner: College basketball keeps its best coach

In an off-season when college football National champion-winning coach Jim Harbaugh leaves to join the pros as coach of the LA Chargers, college basketball gets a boost by retaining its reigning, title-winning coach. It would have been understandable if Hurley had jumped — it’s LeBron James, it’s LA, it’s the Lakers — but by staying at UConn, the college basketball world keeps its best coach in the group. Bonus: Hurley is also the best quote in the game and a true wild card who can, at any moment, create a viral moment on the sideline. -Boone

Loser: College basketball teams still chase UConn

Yes, yes, I know: I just listed college basketball as the winner. But make no mistake: College basketball in general is an absolute loser here. Losing Hurley may have leveled the playing field a bit for title-contending schools. With Hurley back, UConn, for the foreseeable future, will continue to be one of, if not the biggest, obstacle for other college basketball teams. This is a dynasty that could be taking off. Good luck, teams without the name UConn. Good luck. —Boone

Winner: Whoever finally gets the Laker job

Suddenly, the prospect of signing a risky candidate like JJ Redick is a little better. They are no longer positioning him as a potential young coach, as reports did before the flirtation with Hurley. Now, the Lakers can at least say they tried to go the traditional route. This takes some of the pressure off Redick, or whoever is hired, because expectations won’t be as high. It probably also doesn’t hurt that the Lakers have changed a bit financially. A $70 million offer for Hurley may have been low ball, but by most coaches’ standards, this is a windfall. No other candidate we know of at this point will command such a salary, but it’s hard to imagine they will skimp on their final selection after investing so much in Hurley. After all, they won’t want to give the impression that they’re complacent. – Quinn

Winner: Hurley’s bank account will get a boost

Hurley signed a contract last year after leading UConn to the championship, but he is once again in line to sign a new contract in the immediate future after repeating with the Huskies. Matt Norlander says he expects the new deal to surpass the $8 million annual mark, which would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. And turning down Kentucky It is the Lakers in the same offseason likely guarantees that UConn will break the piggy bank and do everything they can to make sure Hurley and his team get paid well. Here is more than ESPN: -Boone

Dan Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers and will return to pursue a third consecutive national title at UConn, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Lakers would have made Hurley one of the NBA six highest paid coaches. But before he began negotiations with the Lakers, Hurley already had an offer from UConn to become one of the highest-paid coaches in the NCAA, and those negotiations will continue, sources told Wojnarowski.

Loser: Rick Pitino still in Hurley’s shadow

There are several candidates who could have competed for the next King of the Big East if Hurley had gone to Los Angeles – Shaheen Holloway, Shaka Smart, Sean Miller among them – but none were more qualified than Rick Pitino in St. Louis. Instead, Pitino and his Johnnies remain an afterthought not only in the Big East, but also in the Northeast — where Providence and UConn remain the region’s big dogs in the conference. —Boone

Winner: Alex Karaban’s decision looks better

Despite a strong pre-draft experience that included a stellar showing in the NBA Draft Combine, Karaban, a two-time UConn champion, opted earlier this month to return to school. Now he’ll do it with the same coach who recruited him. It might have been a little awkward if he had only come back for his coach’s bail, but he returns to school as a future first-round player with a coach whose belief in him helped mold him from a sub-100 national recruit into a likely pick in the top 30. That stability should help him as he looks to build off a career year and break into the NBA. -Boone

Loser: Young Lakers need a leader

The theoretical benefit of hiring a coach like Hurley was that he could build a long-term infrastructure geared toward player development. The chances of a rookie NBA coach competing for a championship right away are relatively low, but Hurley may have done wonders for players like Austin Reaves, Max Christie and Rui Hachimura, described in reports as the young players the Lakers treat as essential. parts. The coach they hire could be just as capable of helping them grow, but without having such a firm plan in place, it’s worth asking whether the Lakers as a team will be as committed to a long-term approach. Would a coach with a more traditional NBA background be more open to the idea of ​​trading these young players to win now? Historically, the answer to this question is usually yes. We don’t have a firm understanding of the Lakers’ offseason plan beyond finding a coach, but this was a huge missed opportunity for the younger players specifically. – Quinn

Winner: Big East will be better

Fans of non-UConn teams in the Big East may disagree — but this is a win for the league as a whole. The sport in this era revolves around big-name coaches due to excessive movement within the transfer portal and the one-and-done rule. UConn’s Hurley will continue to be the face of the league – and the sport – while he’s there. The attention he gets this season and the reality he just refused Los Angeles Lakers continuing to coach in the Big East says a lot. -Boone

Loser: Big East referees will get an earful

Hurley’s sideline antics over the years have been one of the biggest sources of consternation for Big East referees. He constantly walks the line between appropriate and overly aggressive, and having seen him coach the Final Four, he’s ever singing about something to employees. Serve one to the zebras who may have thought they were done dealing with it. Here are many more technical fouls in the future. -Boone

Winner: Anthony Davis gets to have his pick

LeBron James was largely left out of this Lakers signing, according to most reports. His agent, Rich Paul, told Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes that the Lakers should think more about Anthony Davis anyway. Well, reports so far indicate that Davis has a top pick, and it wasn’t Hurley. According to Marc Stein, his top pick would be James Borrego, who has head coaching experience in Charlotte and Orlando and briefly worked under Davis in New Orleans. Borrego is the only candidate known to have been interviewed in person multiple times by the team. Redick is the obvious pivot here, but Davis’ blessing would certainly keep Borrego in contention. If the Lakers are truly preparing to hand the team over to Davis, choosing their preferred coach seems like a wise decision. – Quinn