'Strong belief' that Phil Jackson will return to Lakers, according to report

With the Los Angeles Lakers sitting at 11-43 as they cruise towards setting a new mark for worst record in franchise history, there is thought that the team will look to make changes this off-season. While most reports have focused on the job security of head coach Byron Scott, recently there have been signals that a change in front office personnel may take place as well.

In the aftermath of the New York Knicks' unexpected firing of head coach Derek Fisher, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reports that there is "strong belief Jackson will eventually find his way to his fiancée Jeanie Buss and the Los Angeles Lakers," possibly with Luke Walton or Tom Thibodeau as head coach.

Jackson has previously stated that he is no longer interested in coaching, and the Lakers currently have front office staff in place with vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss and longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak. Additionally, Lakers president Jeanie Buss has previously stated that her brother has until his self-imposed deadline of the summer of 2017 to turn the Lakers around, so Jackson entering this summer would seem unlikely.

With rumors like these, you have to wonder who is leaking the information and who the leak benefits. For competitors, the Lakers looking unstable heading into a summer when they will have the most cap space in the NBA is a plus, so given the phrasing of the report as a "strong belief" without knowing who is the person who believes this information so strongly, it's hard to know how seriously to take the rumor.

Anything is possible with the Lakers, but for now it's probably best to take this report with a grain of salt.

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