Report: Fallout from Lakers coaching search has ‘potential leading candidate’ lined up for Cavs

In light of the news that the Los Angeles Lakers have offered University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley a sizable contract to be the team’s newest head coach, James Borrego has seemingly become a potential leading candidate for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ coaching job.

“So, James Borrego, who they interviewed about 10 days ago, he’s getting momentum in Cleveland,” Windhorst said regarding the Lakers’ coaching process. “He’s expected to interview there early this week as a potential leading candidate developing with the Cavs. And their situation is that they have so prioritized Dan Hurley that they have let other candidates — potential candidates — go off the board elsewhere.”

Back when J.J. Redick was seen as the favorite to become the 29th head coach in the history of the storied Lakers franchise, Borrego was rumored as someone who would be a prime target to fill out Redick’s coaching staff.

“League sources say fellow Lakers search candidates Sam Cassell (Boston) and James Borrego (New Orleans) would be prime targets for Redick’s staff as well as an expected run at trying to bring [Dallas] Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley back to Lakerland,” Marc Stein wrote. “As a Lakers player for the final two seasons of his career in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Dudley had strong relationships with both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”

Borrego currently works as the associate head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans, and the team is fresh off one of its most successful regular seasons in recent memory, as the squad finished the 2023-24 campaign with 49 wins. The Pelicans’ 49-33 record marked their most wins in a single season since the 2008-09 season.

But while the Pelicans experienced loads of collective success during the regular season, that didn’t carry over into New Orleans’ series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. After all, the Pelicans got swept, and two of the team’s four losses came by more than 20 points.

Prior to joining the Pelicans’ coaching staff, Borrego spent time as a head coach with both the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets. He coached the Magic to a 10-20 record during the 2014-15 regular season and Hornets to a 138-163 record across a four-season stretch.

Borrego’s single most successful season as a head coach at the NBA level came during his last season leading the Hornets. In the 2021-22 regular season, the team won 43 of its 82 games, which equates to a winning percentage of 52.4.

Considering the admirable job that Borrego did during his time with a young Hornets team and has done as the associate head coach for the Pelicans, maybe he can help the Cavaliers to take the next step as a franchise.