Darvin Ham offering "fail and play" luxury to Taurean Prince over $45 million trio among factors leading to potential firing: Report

LA Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is now the cynosure of all eyes after the team's first-round exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Following his cryptic comment about his two-year stint in LA as the head coach, Ham's future with the franchise will only garner more attention in the days to come. The Athletic's Lakers beat reporters Jovan Buha and Sam Amick along with NBA insider Shams Charania discussed the ramifications of the postseason exit, and one of them was how Ham persisted with role players despite their dip in form.

According to the trio, Ham is unlikely to return after he inked a four-year deal in the range of $5 million per season in 2022 when he was appointed as head coach. They further added:

"There was a sense among people within the organization that Prince and Reddish — a 24-year-old minimum contract signing — were given opportunities to fail and play through their mistakes during the regular season, a luxury that Reaves, Russell, Hachimura and others weren’t afforded.

"The confusion toward Ham’s rotation even included his decision to split minutes between Vincent and February post-buyout signing Spencer Dinwiddie in the final weeks of the regular season and playoffs. This broke the rhythm of Dinwiddie as the primary backup guard — as he shot 39.7 percent from 3-point range and was among the team’s plus-minus leaders after joining — and led to the question as to why the staff did not elect to go all in with one of them instead of attempting to force small stretches for each."

One of the biggest drawbacks for LA this season has been the health of their bench, which was regarded as one of the more versatile units. They had the perfect blend of players who would impact both ends of the floor. However, with players in and out of the lineup, Darvin Ham was forced to deploy the assets available in his arsenal.

The baffling decision to play the likes of Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish despite their failures, especially over Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura goes against the head coach as well. $45 million is the combined salary for D'Angelo Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura — all of whom were relegated to the bench for a few games in the regular season.

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Despite insider views, there's every reason why Darvin Ham might return as Lakers head coach next season

Quite simply, Darvin Ham's Lakers roster was not equipped to win a championship — even with an in-form LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While it put the right role players around them, it didn't translate or guarantee a title by the end of it all. The Lakers head coach dealt with injuries to his bench that will need to be considered. The front office stood pat during the deadline as they couldn't afford a major upgrade. This meant that Ham, on a human level did what he could, sans the questionable decisions.

Earlier, Lakers insider Anthony Irwin said the Lakers would probably continue with Ham for another season. Chances are that the LA's front office might retool the roster with a big name for their bench with Ham at the helm.

Or, it will be sacking Darvin Ham, and bringing in a new face along with new names to the roster around James and Anthony Davis.