The Los Angeles Lakers have scheduled an interview with former Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff for the team's head coaching job, the Los Angeles Timesreported on Friday. Bickerstaff, 40, was fired by the Grizzlies on April 11 after going 33–49 on the season. Bickerstaff joined the Grizzlies as an associate coach before going 15–48 as the team's interim head coach in 2017 after the team fired David Fizdale. Before his time in Memphis, Bickerstaff coached on an interim basis in Houston during the 2015-16 season and replaced Kevin McHale 11 games into the season and helping the Rockets into the playoffs. The meeting comes after contract negotiations between the Lakers and Tyronn Lue came to an end on Wednesday. It was reported that Lue was seeking a five-year deal and declined a three-year, $18 million deal. Lue recently served as head coach of the Cavaliers, who fired him following an 0–6 start at the beginning of the 2018-19 season. Los Angeles interviewed former Magic coach Frank Vogel on Thursday. The Lakers have been searching for a new head coach since firing Walton at the end of the 2018-19 regular season. Walton led the Lakers to a 37–45 record this season, missing the playoffs for the sixth-straight year.<doc-sep>With Tyronn Lue no longer being an option for the Lakers, they're being forced to dig deep in their coaching search. Frank Vogel is reportedly on the table, while Kurt Rambis has apparently become a big player in the search. They're now reportedly interviewing former Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who started as the interim coach in Memphis, according to The L.A. Times' Brad Turner. Bickerstaff is 81-135 as a head coach, and he took over for the Grizzlies in 2017 when David Fizdale was fired. Last offseason, he was named the head coach, before going 22-60, the second worst record in the Western Conference. It's been an ugly search for the Lakers in the wake of them parting ways with Luke Walton, who quickly signed on with the Sacramento Kings, while the Lakers' search pointed them in the direction of Lue. While the former Cavs head coach and the Lakers seemed like an inevitability, it ultimately fell through earlier in the week. Since then, the Lakers have redirected their efforts elsewhere. The organization is in a fragile state, with Magic Johnson stepping down suddenly prior to the last game of the regular season. That makes them a risky destination for new coaching hires. Bickerstaff's only head coaching experience outside of Memphis has been with the Rockets, when he took over as an interim when Kevin McHale was fired in 2015. The Rockets had a first-round exit in the 2016 playoffs and he left to become an associate with the Grizzlies.<doc-sep>With the Los Angeles Lakers still in need of a head coach, here are three reasons why Frank Vogel would not be a bad choice. As the head coaching search for the Los Angeles Lakers has restarted, the franchise will now once again be looking for the man to lead the franchise. Just a few days ago, it looked like Tyronn Lue was going to be the next head coach of the Lakers. However, the two sides reached an impasse on contract negotiations, and it looks like Lue will now not be the next head coach of the team. Considering that Lue has won an NBA Championship as a head coach, he was obviously qualified for the job and had a solid resume. Now with Lue out of the running, the Lakers are once again starting up interviews for the head coaching job. Frank Vogel has emerged as one of the new candidates for the job, and will be interviewing for the position. Vogel was a name that was mentioned as a potential assistant coach with Lue, but now it looks like he will be in consideration for the head coaching job. Vogel has been a head coach in the NBA for eight seasons with both the Indiana Pacers and the Orlando Magic. His success came with the Pacers in the Eastern Conference, as he was no stranger to facing LeBron James in the playoffs. With the options looking limited, here are three reasons why Vogel wouldn’t be a bad hire for the Lakers after they missed out on Lue.<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Lakers have become a mess, starting with Magic Johnson's abrupt resignation. The Lakers' coaching search has been a failure, as they missed out on the top candidate, Tyronn Lue, with reports of poor negotiating and an uncertain power structure playing a part. There are rumors that some within the team think they should trade LeBron James to reset their timeline. June and July could be the deciding months in which direction the Lakers head in what's becoming a crucial offseason. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Somehow, things have only gotten worse for the Los Angeles Lakers since Magic Johnson abruptly resigned as team president in an impromptu press conference. Days after Johnson stepped down without telling team owner Jeanie Buss, citing happiness as a reason, the Lakers fired head coach Luke Walton. As of Friday, they still don't have a head coach, and reports indicate they have bungled the process. At the rate things are going, the Lakers appear to be nearing a tipping point in which major change might be needed. The Lakers missed out on their top candidate by lowballing him ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday that the Lakers top candidate, Tyronn Lue, backed out of the process after the two sides came to an impasse in negotiations. Tyronn Lue was the Lakers' top head-coaching candidate. Ezra Shaw/Getty According to Wojnarowski, salary, contract length, and overall team structure played a part. Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers offered Lue a three-year $18 million deal to become the head coach, surprising Lue's camp, as they expected a five-year offer. It would have coincided with LeBron James' Lakers contract expiring, and reports indicated that Lue was offended at being seen as merely a coach for James. The Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke reported that the Lakers offer not only came up short in years, but it was also low on money. According to Plaschke, both Walton and Monty Williams (another candidate the Lakers interviewed but passed on) signed five-year $25 million deals with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, respectively, this offseason — figures closer to today's standard in the NBA. The structure of the team appeared to turn off Lue as well. Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers wanted input on Lue's assistant coaching staff. Among the candidates was Jason Kidd, who the Lakers interviewed for the head-coaching job and impressed the team. Such a setup would have undermined Lue's authority in the locker room from the jump. The entire Lue debacle shows how poorly the Lakers handled the situation. The New York Times' Marc Stein reported that the Lakers preferred Lue over Williams, but some in the organization were sensitive to the optics of hiring Lue, believing it would be viewed as appeasing James, who played under Lue with the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Stein, the Lakers essentially waited out Williams, who was hired by the Suns, then began to move in on Lue. Lue's hiring seemed so inevitable that Lue was seen celebrating his birthday with a Lakers-themed cake. According to Wojnarowski, the Lakers are now "scrambling" for a coach. There are other intriguing candidates on the market, but the organization hasn't done itself any favors in appealing to future candidates. An uncertain power structure The Lakers still have a team-president void, and the optics of the coaching search haven't been favorable to general manager Rob Pelinka. Pelinka has been criticized during his time as Lakers GM. Reed Saxon/AP ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that Pelinka didn't think Lue would back out of negotiations because he didn't have any other offers. The whole thing amounts to the Lakers misplaying their hand. The Athletic's Bill Oram wrote that the Lakers should hire a respected president to hire a GM of his or her choice then, ousting Pelinka from the job. Team adviser Kurt Rambis and his wife, Linda Rambis, have also been major players in the offseason. ESPN's Amin Elhassan said Linda Rambis is seen around the league as a "shadow owner" because she is close with Buss. Shelburne said Linda's role is only expanding. Kurt Rambis is reportedly a powerful voice within the Lakers. Michael Perez/AP Wojnarowski reported that Kurt Rambis has been a significant voice in the coaching search. According to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo , the Lakers wanted Rambis to be an assistant under Lue, which Lue rejected. The various and seemingly conflicting voices within the Lakers only underscore what ESPN's Zach Lowe said on "Get Up!" the day after Johnson abruptly resigned. "The atmosphere there is totally poisonous. It's toxic," Lowe said. "Nobody trusts anybody; communication is totally siloed ... [The next president] needs to be someone who comes in and reshapes the culture of how they communicate and how they make decisions because it is totally broken." The LeBron James conundrum LeBron James. Chris Szagola/AP This summer is a crucial one for James and the Lakers. There is pressure to return to the postseason after their failed playoff bid last year. The Lakers reserved cap space for the star-studded 2019 free-agency class, filling out their roster with players on one-year deals who, frankly, played a part in their failed playoff chase. Read more: The 2019 NBA free agent class is stacked and has the potential to alter the league — here are the best players available But perhaps the Lakers would be better off abandoning the goal of making it back into the postseason so quickly. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported on Wednesday that there are members of the Lakers organization telling Buss to trade James. It seems ludicrous on the surface. They landed James, 2018's biggest free agent and the NBA's best player, just one year ago. He's the starting block for getting back to the playoffs and regaining credibility. There could be some logic to it, however. Their pursuit of Lue was clearly because he won a championship with James. The continued search for a veteran head coach and the pressure to land a second star is to help James. James' presence has unnaturally sped up the Lakers' timeline. Chris Szagola/AP<doc-sep>
The Lakers will continue their search for a new coach by interviewing J.B. Bickerstaff on Friday at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo, according to several people who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The former Memphis Grizzlies coach will become the second coach candidate the Lakers will have talked to this week after not being able to reach an agreement with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. Former Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel interviewed with the Lakers on Thursday, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. Bickerstaff is scheduled to meet with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka, co-owners Joey Buss and Jesse Buss, president of business operations Tim Harris, director of special projects Linda Rambis and senior advisor Kurt Rambis. Bickerstaff, 40, was fired on April 11 by the Grizzlies after the team missed the playoffs with a record of 33-49. He had been hired by Memphis as the associate head coach in 2016, but was promoted to interim head coach on Nov. 27, 2017, after head coach David Fizdale was fired. Bickerstaff was named the head coach of the Grizzlies on May 1, 2018. He was also the interim coach of the Rockets after Houston fired Kevin McHale on Nov. 18, 2015. Bickerstaff led the Rockets to the playoffs, but they lost in the first round and he withdrew his name from the head-coaching search with Houston. Sign up for our Lakers newsletter » Bickerstaff, who is the son of former NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, has an overall record of 85-131 as a head coach. The Lakers have been in the process of trying to hire a coach since they and Luke Walton mutually agreed to part ways on April 12. The next coach the Lakers hire will be their fifth in eight years, and that person will try to help them reach the playoffs after they missed them the last six consecutive seasons. broderick.turner@latimes.com Twitter: @BA_Turner