The Lakers are not looking like the steady franchise we saw make it to the 2023 Western Conference Finals after being an 11th seed for most of last season. Darvin Ham did a great job as a rookie head coach, especially in the playoffs to give the Lakers a defensive identity that carried them to their success.

Ham had shown troubling coaching tendencies throughout last season, something he has carried over to this year. He ends up tinkering with his lineups a little too much to try and find consistency. He also tends to run his players into the ground, as he did with LeBron James last winter, and is on track to do the same against this season. Fans have been asking for a coaching change consistently, and it seems the Lakers are considering it.

In the case of Ham’s mid-season dismissal, who can the Lakers pursue to steady the ship and still be in a position to deliver them a title? Here are three possible candidates.

Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers is intimately familiar with the LA area, having spent almost a decade in charge of the Los Angeles Clippers. The 2008 NBA Championship-winning head coach is coming off a mediocre stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, ending in two consecutive second-round exits. His ability to be a championship-winning coach has been in question for years now, squandering more series leads than he has been able to protect. He’s working for ESPN right now, but as Tristan Thompson showed, you can leave ESPN for an opportunity to work for a team easily.

Rivers’ championship credentials have been in question for a while now, but he provides a baseline of stability that the Lakers clearly need. Playoff execution on LeBron-led teams often comes down to LeBron himself. Maybe Rivers and ‘Bron can have a harmonious partnership that allows both to succeed. Rivers has succeeded as a defensive coach, making sure that the Lakers’ strengths are magnified.

He has adapted to modern offenses as well as any old-school coach has been able to. The Lakers are an intriguing fit for him, but the potential of it to go wrong likely keeps both parties trepidatiously away from each other. Rivers likes to exercise a lot of control over his group, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can co-exist with LeBron and Rob Pelinka. If he can, it could be a game-changer for LA compared to Ham.