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Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers front office elected not to pick up the third-year team option on head coach Byron Scott's contract on Sunday, rumors of who will replace him have consumed Laker Land. The team is reportedly compiling a "long list" of candidates for the job opening, and general manager Mitch Kupchak says he hopes to finish the search by the time free agency begins in July.
Who will coach the team when that search concludes? Lakers president Jim Buss is said to be "partial" to Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, and the Lakers have already reached out and asked for permission to interview San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina.
Other names the team is said to be considering include Kevin Ollie and Jeff Van Gundy, and on Tuesday afternoon, a previously unreported dark horse candidate appears to have thrown their name in for consideration to fill the team's vacancy:
I'll be yo coach
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) April 26, 2016
Could we really get #CoachSwag? It seems unlikely, as glorious as that would surely be. For one thing, player coaches are no longer allowed, so Young would have to retire and forfeit the two-years and around $11 million remaining on his contract if he really wanted the job. D'Angelo Russell should be rooting against this outcome, because if he though Byron Scott was hard on him, Young will probably make those memories seem downright positive in comparison.
This is mostly facetious, Nick Young is not going to be the Lakers' next head coach. But it is fun to dream about what type of offense the man known as Swaggy-P would design, and if anyone besides himself would be allowed to shoot.
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