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What could Phil Jackson consulting the Lakers mean for their pursuit of Nick Nurse?

Phil Jackson certainly comes with baggage, but could his continued role in the Lakers organization give them a better chance at Nick Nurse?

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The Celebration of Life for Kobe & Gianna Bryant Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Fresh off one of the most disappointing seasons in team history, the Lakers will have a bunch boxes they need to check this offseason in order to get back on the road to contention. Potentially the biggest, and most immediate, of those areas of attention will be hiring a new head coach.

Although the playoffs remain ongoing, this has not cooled down the rumor mill when it comes to potential replacements, as well as whose voices will have a say on the matter. On Tuesday, the latest news surrounding the team centered on both.

According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, sources close to the situation have suggested that “pessimism persists” in relation to current Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder’s potential interest in the Lakers’ opening. This comes on the heels of a previous report that the team has “serious interest” in Snyder.

The other big news of the day centered on not who the Lakers may target, but whose voice would have a say in who fills the vacancy. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Phil Jackson will be “significantly involved” within the team’s hiring committee. While Jackson’s involvement is not necessarily new information, it is the most concrete confirmation of his role, as well as another example of the team’s continuing insulated approach.

But despite this being another example of the organization opting to look inward to solve their problems, Jackson was previously in favor of the team’s hiring of Frank Vogel, and perhaps more importantly, has connections to the likes of Nick Nurse in particular. The latter makes his presence a potentially big one.

While early indications are that the club’s process will be methodical and thorough, there will no be no shortage of reports from here on out until the selection is made, which brings us to today’s episode.

On this week’s edition of Talk-O-Tuesday, our hosts Alex Padilla and Alex Regla discussed the latest news on the coaching front, as well as the potential pros and cons of Jackson’s role in the coaching search.

The duo also debated whether the team may miss out on promising candidates like Darvin Ham if they opt to take a slower approach when making their choice, or in terms of targeting and favoring more established names instead.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.

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