4 First-Time Head Coaches Lakers Should Consider Hiring

4. Sam Cassell, Boston Celtics

If the Lakers want a first-time head coach who has high-level player and assistant coaching experience, they will not be able to find a better candidate than Sam Cassell.

The former All-Star guard has been an assistant under Doc Rivers with the Clippers and the Sixers before being hired in Boston to serve as an assistant under Joe Mazzula. The Celtics have been the most dominant team in the league this season and Cassell's veteran leadership and help with player development have been credited as part of the success.

Cassell has been long mentioned as a head coaching candidate for vacancies around the league but hasn't made the jump yet. However, he continues to be a respected figure in the NBA who will almost certainly get a chance to be a head coach at some point in his career.

The former Minnesota Timberwolves star might be the ideal profile for the next Lakers head coach. Due to the success in his playing days, he will garner the respect of current players.

He is a three-time NBA champion who knows what it takes to win at the highest level. He also has been on the sidelines for long enough to understand player relationships, motivation, and discipline aspects of running a team, as well as the X's and O's. He has the stature to reach James and Davis at a personal and basketball level.

Whether the Lakers go with the first-time head coach route again remains to be seen, but there are certainly intriguing and qualified candidates they can go to. It is arguably the most important decision the front office will make this offseason.

More Lakers news and rumors: