Lakers reportedly taking time with coaching search, but buzz points at J.J. Redick

Only one thing seems certain in the Lakers coaching search: Tyronn Lue is off the board. Not that he was ever on it outside the fantasies of fans (and a few in the Lakers front office), but that dream officially died with his Clippers’ extension.

Where things stand now depends on who you ask, but the signs all point in one direction.

There is the big picture report — that sounds like it’s what the Lakers front office wants out there — from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN about the Lakers being early in the process.

“The Lakers now are starting to bring in candidates for longer, in-depth interviews. They had a series of kind of get-to-know-you interviews with people they didn’t know as well. I’m told that New Orleans’ top assistant James Borrego is meeting with the Lakers [Wednesday] in L.A…

“You know, they’re nowhere close on this one.”

One thing everyone agrees on is that this process is not going to be fast — but that’s just part of the buzz pointing toward J.J. Redick. He is on the ABC broadcast team for the NBA Finals and couldn’t start the job until after that ends (and Adam Silver hates when teams make big announcements during the Finals, stealing the spotlight). There are a number of other things pointing to J.J. Redick as the frontrunner:

• There’s this from TNT/Bleacher Reports’ Chris Haynes.

• Marc Stein reports Redick is already reaching out about potential assistants for his staff including Borrego (that seems unlikely if he doesn’t get the head coach job), Celtics assistant Sam Cassell and Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley — the last two of those could well be busy with their day jobs through the end of the Finals.

• Then there are the easy dots to connect: Mike Krzyzewski is consulting with the Lakers on this coaching search and he coached Redick at Duke. Or the fact Redick hosts a podcast with LeBron James, so he would have the team’s biggest star — and we can assume Anthony Davis as well — in his corner.

• What the Lakers want in this next coach is stability and a young coach who will grow to become a core of the organization — think Erik Spoelstra in Miami. Redick is young (39) and gives off that vibe.

From the outside, this has the vibe of a Lakers front office and management that can be fragmented taking the time to reach a consensus around one person. Redick appears to be that person. He comes with risks — the Lakers are a win-now team bringing in a guy with zero coaching experience at the college or pro level, and unlike Steve Kerr, Redick was not a team GM either — but the Lakers may be willing to take that on for the potential payoff. Plus, it keeps LeBron happy and might help get him to re-sign/extend with the team.

Coming to a consensus may take time, and that slow process may be the only sure thing about this search.