Could the Cavaliers Firing J.B. Bickerstaff Prevent the Lakers from Getting Donovan Mitchell?

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

There hasn't been a ton of news out of El Segundo as the Lakers slow play their coaching search and nobody can really do much about next season from a personnel standpoint, because the playoffs are still happening.

But on Thursday, the calm was shaken just a little bit. BJ Bickerstaff was let go by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now in theory, that could put him in play for LA's job, if only because there aren't many candidates with NBA head coaching experience. But probably not. What it could do, though, is force the Lakers to speed things up a little because the Cavs, unlike the Washington Wizards (the other open gig) constitutes a real job with appealing players and a smart front office. That means it's possible candidates the Lakers like (Adelman? Redick? Cassell? Etc...) could be wooed by Cleveland, and if the Lakers want 'em they'll have to move.

So at the least, this could tip their hand a little, because if you see the Lakers suddenly spring into action because _______ is getting down the road with the Cavs, that obviously means they're interested. The flip side holds true as well. Cleveland is reportedly interested in Kenny Atkinson, who at least initially was on LA's list. If he is pursued by the Cavs and not a peep comes from El Segundo? Well, there you go.

Meanwhile, LeBron James was named to the All NBA 3rd team this week. It's the 20th consecutive season he's managed to make one of the teams. 20. In a row. To put that in perspective, only 10 players have even played 20 seasons. He's now five All-NBA seasons ahead of the next closest guy behind him.

Finally... is this the year Chris Paul becomes a Laker, for real?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: Bickerstaff, OUT!
SEGMENT 2: If no MItchell... who?
SEGMENT 3: LeBron's long term excellence, plus CP3?

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