Just over a week ago, veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein of Substack reported that Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is being viewed as someone who could potentially replace Gregg Popovich as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, especially if Popovich retires after this season.
On Monday, Stein added another team to the list of squads Snyder could leave the Jazz for: the Los Angeles Lakers.
Wrote Stein: “No one in Salt Lake City has league insiders musing about his future like Coach Quin Snyder. In discussions with numerous officials from rival teams in recent weeks, I’ve heard questions raised repeatedly about how much longer Snyder, now in his eighth season in Utah, will remain there.
“As covered in my previous This Week In Basketball column, Snyder has been increasingly mentioned as a potential target for San Antonio to succeed Gregg Popovich. I’ve likewise heard Snyder’s name posed as a probable Los Angeles Lakers candidate should the Lakers and Frank Vogel part ways after what has been a nightmare season in Hollywood.”
Stein noted that Snyder has spent time in both the Spurs and Lakers organizations, although he cautioned that the coach is still thought to be under contract after he signed an extension before the 2019-20 season.
That said, Stein reported that Snyder may not be as open to another extension at this point.
“The playoffs should tell us a lot,” Stein wrote. “Crashing through the second-round barrier that this team, with its (Donovan) Mitchell/(Rudy) Gobert core, has thus far been unable to breach would presumably hush at least some of the persistent chatter leaguewide that a roster overhaul is forthcoming.
“Another scenario, obviously, is that the Jazz will soon be looking for changes and scapegoats should they fall short again and extend a run without a trip to the conference finals that dates to 2007.”