Lakers News: More Details Emerge About LA's Failed Pursuit of Dan Hurley

The Los Angeles Lakers' search for a new head coach has been a roller coaster throughout. From the pursuing UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley to many in the industry not knowing what they will do, Los Angeles has kept things tightly lipped.

However, some believe that Hurley entered the negotiations with the Lakers not playing fair. Some think he was using them as leverage to get a bigger deal from UConn.

NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke it all down, including how the interest from Hurley wasn't a leverage play.

“He had negotiated a new (UConn) deal for himself with his agent weeks ago,” Woj said. “That’s going to be, I’m told, kind of in the $8MM+ (per year) range. It’ll put him among the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. But they never negotiated off that, or leveraged off that with the Lakers. The Lakers (opportunity) was a singular moment for Dan Hurley and it wasn’t about getting his UConn number up. It already was up, and that was before UConn even knew about the Laker conversations.”

Hurley has always dreamed of being a coach in the NBA but the timing just may not have been right. He heads back to UConn while the Lakers continue their search for a new head coach.

The entire situation does feel a little weird but Hurley may have just wanted to see what the Lakers would offer. Even if he had an interest, his interest in remaining at UConn was stronger and the team respected that.

While some believe that the Lakers didn't do their best with the contract offer, if Hurley had accepted, he would have been one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA. For someone who has never coached in the league, it would have been a risky investment for the team to make. But it was one that they were willing to do.

With Hurley now out of the picture, the Lakers have some work to do. They will reportedly be interviewing former NBA guard JJ Redick this weekend and could hire a new coach in the coming days.

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