Lakers Interested in Celtics Lead Assistant for Head Coaching Opening

On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with head coach Darvin Ham, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The purple and gold went 47-35 in the regular season, beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament to earn the seventh seed in the Western Conference, then lost 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

Ham, who is out after just his second season in Los Angeles, is the Lakers' first coach not to return after making the playoffs since Phil Jackson in 2011, per ESPN researcher Matt Williams.

As they begin the process of interviewing candidates to fill their newly created head-coaching vacancy, Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic report their list of targets includes JJ Redick, Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, and Ty Lue. However, the Los Angeles Clippers will work to get an extension done with Lue, per Wojnarowski.

According to Buha, the Lakers also have an interest in Boston Celtics lead assistant Charles Lee.

Lee's also reportedly a top candidate for the Charlotte Hornets' opening for a head coach.

The former Bucknell star nearly became the Detroit Pistons' bench boss before they made one final successful push for Monty Williams last summer.